Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung on November 8 answered National Assembly deputies’ questions regarding different issues, including the management of the press and information on the internet.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung answers
NA deputies' questions on November 8 (Photo: VNA)

Answering Hoa Binh province’s deputy Bach Thi Huong Thuy’s question on legal regulations to protect personal information amidst the current information boom, the minister said that the rules on protecting personal secrets are included in the Press Law.

In 2019, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has handled three violation cases in this field, Hung noted.

The excessive exploitation of personal information is related to occupational ethics and awareness of journalists, therefore, along with completing the law in the field, the ministry will coordinate with the Vietnam Journalists’ Association to enhance education and raise journalists’ awareness of their missions and responsibilities, he said.

The Government has also assigned the MIC to build a decree on the protection of personal information, the minister added.

Responding to Tien Giang province’s representative Nguyen Thanh Hai’s query on measures to manage the press’s quality and avoid bad impacts on society, Hung admitted that there has been no effective solution to the problem.

He said that in the future, the ministry will work with technology companies to review the titles and contents of media articles to ensure they are matched each other.

On a question raised by deputy Dang Thi Phuong Thao from Nam Dinh province, on what the ministry has done to thoroughly deal with the problem in which many online magazines operates in contrary with their mottos but like newspapers, the minister said that this is a legal violation.

He noted that in recent years, the ministry has been reported that some magazines did not focus on their professional matters but spreading news and investigation reports. The MIC, the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association are working closely together to seek solutions.

One of the measures is to clarify the registered mottos of media agencies to re-issue their licenses, and define the responsibility of the management units of media agencies, he said.

Regarding a question by deputy Nguyen Hong Van from Phu Yen on the planning and management of the press, TV and radio broadcasting networks, the MIC leader said that Vietnam currently has 868 media agencies.

Recognising the need to re-organise the press system, the Prime Minister has signed a planning scheme for national media development and management towards 2025, he said, adding that the MIC has issued a plan to implement the planning, which is expected to be finished in 2020.

On the occasion, he asked leaders of ministries, sectors and agencies support the realization of the planning.

Responding to a query by An Giang province’s representative Nguyen Lan Hieu on measures to stop the uncontrolled removal of stories by online news websites, Hung said that the ministry has applied a tool to detect the websites’ removal of articles.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Journalists’ Association has built a code of conducts for journalists, he said.

Over the worry of deputy Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa from Dong Thap that whether the ministry is applying the management model for themainstream press on social networks, Hung said that they are different spaces and require different management methods.

He revealed that in the coming time, the ministry will submit to the Government a code of conduct on the internet space.