National Assembly Chairman: Press Law leaving out electronic news pages is not okay

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung expressed his opinion and said that "it is not right to say that there is a Decree and the Press Law does not cover this area."

On February 18, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinions on the draft Report on Explanation and Acceptance of the Draft Law on the Press (amended). Opinions were concerned that the draft Law did not regulate electronic information pages.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Online information is almost absent from the law.

Emphasizing that searching and viewing information online is increasing and is an irreversible trend, Chairman of the Nationalities Council Ksor Phuoc expressed: "Unfortunately, the management and control of information on the internet is almost absent in the Press Law, not meeting current practice."

According to Mr. Ksor Phuoc, in the immediate future, there needs to be regulations to regulate and manage “internal” websites, which are websites with servers in Vietnam. If this area is left blank, the draft Law will only meet 40% of the requirements.

According to Mr. Nguyen The Ky - Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, there are currently many concerns about regulations related to electronic information sites. Currently, these sites are licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Department of Information and Communications, in which Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have licensed the most, thousands of sites.

“These pages are not newspapers but they are very journalistic in nature and equal in the online environment. If they are not included in the Law, Decree 72 and Decree 74 need to have better management integration,” said Mr. Nguyen The Ky.

Explaining further on this issue, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son emphasized the view of not privatizing the press and having a planning roadmap so that "the press does not need to be large but needs to be sophisticated". The Press Law regulates types of press established and managed by the State, so social media is not included in the law.

“Although social media is developing rapidly and is being facilitated, the Press Law does not regulate it, but Decree 72 has strict sanctions. If social networking sites are included in the law, we will recognize personal blogs as press. Later, we will study and turn the Decree into law to manage media other than press,” said Mr. Nguyen Bac Son.

Not agreeing with the explanation of Minister Nguyen Bac Son, Chairman of the Nationalities Council Ksor Phuoc said: “When talking about press development, we must thoroughly follow the Constitution’s viewpoint, that is, ensuring the freedom of citizens. The other two decrees are outdated compared to the Constitution and the country’s reality. Amending the Press Law is an opportunity to legalize it, whatever can be controlled must be done immediately, don’t wait any longer.”

Restricting democratic freedoms cannot be done by Decree.

Emphasizing that the 2013 Constitution stipulates the restriction of human rights and civil rights only by law, Chairman of the Law Committee Phan Trung Ly suggested that the Drafting Committee review the Decrees to include regulations restricting human rights and civil rights in the Press Law.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong chaired the working session on the morning of February 18.

Sharing the same view, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung affirmed that freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and access to information are democratic rights and can only be limited by law, so the Decree cannot prohibit them. Non-press types can be managed by Decree, but if the Decree cannot "touch" democratic freedoms, then what is prohibited must be included in the Press Law.

According to Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, the Party's viewpoints and policies on press development are clear, but the important thing is to apply them to the law, taking the Constitution as the basis. Management does not mean tightening things so we must consider to see an open, democratic society, ensuring freedom, except for laws that restrict it because they affect the interests of the people, national defense, security, social order and safety...

Regarding electronic information sites, the National Assembly Chairman said: “It has been many years since the Press Law was amended, so this is an opportunity to amend and adjust to reality. It is necessary to stipulate relatively basic principles in the law. Saying that there is a Decree so the Law does not cover that area is not appropriate at all.”

Concluding the discussion, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong also emphasized that the Press Law needs to regulate electronic information sites. If this content is not yet reflected in the draft, it should not be submitted to the National Assembly to have time to complete it and ensure quality./.

According to VOV