"Tighten" management of public internet

(Baonghean)-In recent years, in our province, internet services have developed very rapidly at a rate of 12-16%/year. Internet development has created conditions for people to improve their quality of life, but at the same time, there are many difficult negative aspects. "Tightening" the management of public internet is no longer a problem of just one functional sector but requires the drastic participation of the whole society.

Alarming situation

At 11pm on December 4, following the working group of the Administrative Management Team for Social Order, Vinh City Police patrolled and inspected internet and public game spots in the area and found that violations at these spots were still quite common. At the public internet spot on Nguyen Van Troi Street, although it was past the prescribed hours, nearly 10 teenagers in the shop were still engrossed in violent games or watching movies with content not suitable for their age. The computer system here has management software installed, but its purpose is only to calculate time and convert it into the amount of money customers have to pay, and it does not play any role in preventing or filtering "dirty" web addresses with obscene or violent content. Here, the working group drew up a record, imposed an administrative fine, and the owner of the establishment also signed a commitment not to repeat the violation of operating past the prescribed hours.

A public internet cafe on Ly Tu Trong street (Vinh city)

Violations by public internet businesses are still occurring in many districts, cities and towns. In Thai Hoa town, along with the speed of socio-economic development, internet business activities and public games are increasing in number. Currently, the town has more than 30 internet businesses and public games. Mr. To Thanh Son - Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Thai Hoa town said that the town is very interested and strict in managing the activities of these businesses, but basically only implementing "rigid" regulations on area, lighting, fire prevention and fighting, hours..., while it is very difficult to control the content of access. On the other hand, in reality, it is rare for a business to check the ID card and record the name of the customer. In fact, there are still many customers under 14 years old who freely access the internet without being accompanied by an adult.

In mountainous districts, although the number of public internet and electronic game businesses is not large, there are many alarming things in their operations. Mr. Lo Thanh Nhat - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district said that in addition to public internet points located at post offices in communes, there are currently a few businesses of this type scattered throughout the district. Although small in scale, they still attract many young people. The biggest concern in managing the operation of this type of service is the difficulty in monitoring children's access to websites with bad content, inciting, affecting their psychology.

In fact, in the province, there have been many unfortunate cases recently recorded in which the criminals were none other than blind teenagers in the "virtual" world. For example, the case of Vo Van Loc (1990), residing in Dong Vinh ward (Vinh city), who went to play video games at an internet cafe and, because he was short of money, stole a customer's iPhone; or due to an online conflict, Nguyen Van Truong (1991) and Hoang Van Giang (1996) in Vo Liet (Thanh Chuong) got into a fight, Truong used a knife to stab Giang to death...

Need to "tighten" with many synchronous solutions

Mr. Phan Sy Quy - Head of the Telecommunications Management Department, Department of Information and Communications said: "By the end of November 2015, the whole province had issued 574 licenses eligible to operate out of a total of 718 internet service and public game establishments. Many districts have issued 100% of licenses such as Nam Dan, Con Cuong, Ky Son, Nghia Dan, Quy Chau, Thai Hoa, Yen Thanh. Some localities are still behind due to the large number of internet access points such as Vinh City, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau..."

Mr. Bui Quang Phuong - Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Vinh City said that out of a total of 225 internet businesses in the area, there are still 75 locations that have not been granted a license. The main reason is that the area is not enough as prescribed (minimum 50m2) or the distance to the school is less than 200m. In addition, violations of hours, access content... are very difficult to detect, many business owners close their doors after 10pm, but inside they still quietly let customers play all night, the authorities cannot control them all. Since the beginning of the year, through actual patrols, Vinh City police have fined 14 establishments that operate beyond the prescribed hours (from 10pm to 6am), but that number does not fully reflect the actual violations.

The Internet brings many benefits but needs to be tightly managed to minimize negative aspects - Illustration photo.

Regarding solutions in the coming time, the head of the Department of Culture and Information of Vinh City said that for establishments that do not meet the conditions for granting operating licenses, the city will extend them for 6 months, and the establishments must upgrade, renovate the room area, or relocate to ensure the distance from the new school to continue operating, otherwise the business license will be revoked as prescribed by law. At the same time, the People's Committee of Vinh City is drafting a plan to coordinate and strengthen the management of internet activities and public games, and request opinions from relevant units such as the City Police, the Department of Education and Training, associations, unions, etc.

Mr. Phan Sy Quy - Head of Telecommunications Management Department, Department of Information and Communications affirmed: "To do a good job of managing the internet and public games, the participation of the whole society is needed. Education and orientation in each family, school, and locality; increasing surprise inspections, strictly handling violators; raising awareness for business owners... are things that need to be done resolutely and synchronously."

Phuoc Anh