Internet and the dark side of technology

(Baonghean.vn) –In recent years, the Internet has become a popular service in Nghe An, an indispensable need in social life. Besides the positive aspects such as rich and diverse information about culture, education, society, economy, etc., there are still problems in both management and users.

Since 2008, the number of Internet service providers in Vietnam has increased 5 times, international bandwidth has increased 9 times, and domestic bandwidth has increased 8 times. Vietnam is one of the 20 countries with the highest number of Internet users in the world.

In the past 3 years, Nghe An has been the largest province in the country in terms of area with many remote districts, however, the Internet has developed strongly. By August 2011, there were 20.59% broadband Internet subscribers/100 people, the rate of families with computers connected to the Internet was 31.7%. In 2009, Nghe An ranked 9th out of 63 provinces and cities in terms of technical infrastructure readiness index, in 2011 it rose to 4th in the overall ranking of the country. The Internet has gone from being an expensive service to becoming popular with low cost, the density of people using it is constantly increasing. In mountainous districts such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, the telecommunications and Internet infrastructure basically meets the needs of the people.

The Internet is a huge storehouse of human knowledge, we can search for almost any information in all fields domestically and internationally, new and old news on the Internet. Email has the advantage of being fast, economical and ensuring information from the sender to the recipient. In the field of education, distance learning systems, online learning, even learning foreign training programs via the Internet have become quite popular. The advantage is that students can study when they have free time and communicate directly with teachers. This method is both cost-effective and time-saving.

In terms of the management of state agencies, through the electronic information portals of localities, departments and the government, citizens and businesses can access public services at various levels such as: business registration, notarization, household registration, transfer of ownership... without having to go to the headquarters of the above agencies as before. The relationship between state agencies and citizens ensures transparency, publicity and convenience. Moreover, this method of communication increases mutual control and supervision between citizens, businesses and state agencies.

Besides important benefits, the Internet still has negative aspects such as:

In remote areas, Internet cafes have developed quite rapidly, mostly for children to play games, adults to "chat" and get to know each other, a few to look up information for studying, entertainment and work. There have been some students who have dropped out of school, stayed up late because they are addicted to games like "Empire", "Legendary Martial Arts"... In some Internet cafes in the city, there have been fights, scams... This is a problem that causes frustration in schools, parents and society. The concept of "Internet addiction" has appeared, a habit that is difficult to control. Many gamers are too passionate, spending too much time, health, spirit and money on online games - this is a form of "Internet addiction".

Recently, many Internet users in Vietnam have expressed their anger at the fact that some online social networks have been exploited to post information with content that is propaganda against the Vietnamese State, defaming the regime, violating the law and threatening national security. Many websites post obscene news, images, video clips, and even post their own images online to search for subjects that negatively affect the morality and lifestyle of today's youth and students.

Connecting to the Internet, users can easily register and join foreign social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Yahoo... We can also easily find friends and interesting information. However, information that deviates from cultural norms, customs, and violates Vietnamese law is not absent. Even with famous foreign social networks, there is constantly information that deviates from Vietnamese customs and laws. On the other hand, value-added activities are difficult to control, causing tax losses. Recently, many members of social networks and some electronic news sites with servers located abroad have become communication channels, connecting contacts of subjects with plots to attract and incite others to participate in activities that cause insecurity and disorder... With the feature of sharing links on social networks, the spread is very fast, calculated in seconds along with the increasingly rapid and cheap development of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets with 3G wireless connection, Wifi... the update speed, spread is faster and more flexible than traditional terminal devices. This is also the downside of technology that domestic management agencies are still confused about how to handle.

As for personal blogs, there are thousands of new blogs born every day,millions of visitors,In addition to the benefits that blogs bring,a forum where its owner can express his thoughts and opinions on certain issues. In reality, there are blogs that serve as propaganda tools for reactionary cultures, thoughts, and political perceptions that deviate from the guidelines and policies of our Party and State...There are blogs like sex websites, with avatars of nude and sex photos. There are also fake blogs, where anyone can create blogs to defame others. Like most other utilities from the Internet, blogs have clearly shown their two sides, but it is difficult to draw the line between freedom to express one's views and its abuse. Behaviors such as creating viruses and spreading them through computer networks, causing damage to computer infrastructure systems, operating systems, stealing data, leaking information causing losses to users, data documents of citizens, state agencies and businesses are also pressing issues.

There are also downsides like lFraud, defamation of the reputation of individuals and organizations, theft of credit card numbers. The virtual environment is alsodating sites, luring and tricking young teenagers, even children, into depraved games.an unauthorized entry into IT systems,Impersonating others using stolen insurance card numbers from the Internet and fake ID cards and birth certificates to buy high-value goods...

In order for the Internet to promote positive effects in social life, there must be positive solutions to minimize its negative aspects. We are happy that Vietnam has had rapid development of the Internet, and has had a number of important legal documents in the management, provision and use of Internet services and electronic information pages. The promulgated legal documents have had a clear effect on Vietnamese enterprises participating in activities related to the Internet, but there are still shortcomings. The Internet is a global environment, a "virtual world", which reflects almost the entire real world we live in, but the state management of the Internet is not enough for only the Information and Communications sector. In the coming time, it is necessary to strengthen the coordination role of departments at all levels, to each facility and locality in implementing and enforcing the law to mobilize the strength of the whole society for the Internet to develop and be used effectively, serving socio-economic growth and people's lives from the viewpoint that State management must keep up with the development speed of the Internet in social life, management is to serve and promote development, not to prohibit.

Phan Nguyen Hao