National Assembly delegates are upset about the electronic news site "cooking porridge on the backs of journalists"

The speech on copyright infringement in the press and the difficulties of the press in the current situation by National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong, General Director of Hanoi Transport Corporation, surprised many people, especially the press.

Opening his speech at the discussion session on the revised Press Law at the National Assembly on November 26, delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong (Hanoi) said that it must be said that the revised Press Law is an extremely important and urgent bill and... is also a very difficult Law. At the same time, he highly appreciated the careful, careful and responsible preparation of the Drafting Committee and the comprehensive and in-depth assessments of the reviewing agency.

Delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong

“I believe that the revised Press Law must create a legal corridor for the press to develop strongly and sustainably, minimizing the shortcomings of the past period. Furthermore, the draft law must also aim at a further goal of the Vietnamese press adapting and competing in the new period of international integration, joining hands with the Party and State to handle domestic and foreign issues, as well as global issues,” emphasized Delegate Thuong.

How to manage social media?

In his speech, Deputy Nguyen Phi Thuong mentioned the explosion of the internet with the expansion of social media has changed the status of traditional press. Statistics show that in 2013, the world had 2.8 billion internet users, accounting for 39%. In Vietnam, that number is 31%. Of which, the number of people using social media via mobile phones accounts for about 26% of the population.

“In addition to some benefits, social media is also causing many impacts on society every day, especially on the press system. Media experts today have compared social media to the future of journalism,” emphasized Delegate Thuong.

Explaining this issue, delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong said that with just one phone, users can turn it into a newsroom, a newspaper, a studio, a printing house, a newsstand. A citizen with the support of technology can also become a reporter, an editor, an editor-in-chief...

According to the analysis of delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong, the cause is due to a number of specific impacts:

Firstly, the habit of receiving information changes (searching for information, selecting information, viewing information, buying information changes, exchanging information, and responding to information will be different).

Second, the rapid explosion of information on the internet, including a lot of unverified information, creates unhealthy competition and affects the status of mainstream journalism.

Third, in the context of that information explosion, it seems that the line between social media and traditional press no longer exists, leading to a segment of readers lacking trust in mainstream press and turning to using information online.

Fourth, the unlimited participation in social media has thinned the newspaper economy, making it more difficult for traditional newspapers. A sobering statistic is that in the past year, the number of newsstands in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has decreased by more than half. And this trend continues to increase.

However, delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong wondered if the draft did not have any regulations on this subject.

“There are opinions that we have only focused on capturing the “man with hair” but not the “bald” man. While the man with hair is easy to capture, what society is most concerned about is the “management” of the bald man - (the frustrating part that the current Press Law and Decree 72 have not yet regulated and controlled)” - delegate Thuong likened.

According to delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong, such regulations create equality and a healthy environment for the press to develop.

“Experience shows that when there is an incident, while the mainstream press follows the direction, stops, and does not report it, social media plows it up freely. By the time the mainstream press reports the news, readers no longer have the patience to wait to read it. Over time, the press loses readers, not only causing the press to decline and weaken, but also reducing the propaganda effect of the press...” - delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong emphasized.

However, the concerns of delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong were also answered by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son. If it is stipulated in the Press Law, we have invisibly acknowledged private press. The viewpoint of the Ministry of Information and Communications is to strictly manage this matter. In the future, Decree 72 may be upgraded to a Law for management.

Copyright infringement, "the real people eat fakes, the fake people eat reals"

Another issue that delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong is very concerned about is the situation of copyright infringement, plagiarism, and copying of articles from newspapers to news aggregator sites.

“The reality is that despite the existence of a legal system on intellectual property and copyright, the ability to enforce and protect copyright in the field of journalism is almost impossible. Intellectual Property Law is too broad and current press agencies can only rely on... self-awareness.

On the other hand, for a medium-sized online newspaper, about 300 news and articles are published per day. So the time for pre-inspection, post-inspection and handling of complaints... is extremely difficult" - Deputy Thuong said.

From there, delegate Thuong explained why the situation of plagiarism and copyright infringement occurs frequently, continuously and without any solution. General electronic news sites are the units that infringe the most copyright, but some press agencies also follow this trend, making the "phenomenon" become "popular".

Another reason, according to delegate Thuong, is the absurd existence of general electronic news sites (a deformed form of media) whose licensing condition is “to be allowed to copy at least 5 press agencies”. Because the law does not allow these electronic sites to create their own content, they will naturally rehash and copy articles from other press sites, and they cannot exist with only content from 5 newspapers.

“Because there are so many of these types of websites, it is very difficult to block them. In fact, these types of news sites have ‘parasitized the press’ to reap the best benefits for themselves without having to spend any sweat, effort or money” - Delegate Thuong was indignant.

Mr. Thuong added that, according to statistics, the country currently has more than 1,600 general electronic news sites, dozens of times more than the number of electronic press agencies and twice the number of press agencies in general. So there is a situation where "those who do real work eat fakes", and those who do fake work eat real things. In fact, with the super-fast speed of copying, controlling the content on these news sites is extremely difficult, so there is a situation of "sending in the morning", "withdrawing" at noon... The press is already weak and has all its nutrients sucked out by parasites.

Delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong suggested that this draft Law should consider removing the concept of “general electronic news site” and grouping them into the simple type of Website. Only press agencies are allowed to publish websites of journalistic nature. Only then can we create a healthy environment for the press to develop equally, so that genuine press agencies can confidently invest and develop.

According to Infonet