Senior Lieutenant General To Lam: Strengthening evidence to handle subjects who defame people online

This morning (November 1), Minister of Public Security To Lam continued to answer questions about solutions to handle and prevent information containing defamatory and insulting content on the internet.

Minister of Public Security To Lam answers questions at the National Assembly.

Senior Lieutenant General To Lam said that the Ministry has coordinated with the Ministry of Information and Communications and other relevant agencies to handle a number of cases and individuals, but also admitted that "current technology cannot prevent this, and there are still some difficulties."

Dealing with the anonymity of information on the Internet, even violations, is not only domestic but also transnational and international, so this is difficult.

Some regulations on handling these issues have not been completed, for example, the issue of appraisal, whenever we want to handle slanderous and distorted information, we must have appraisal from the authorities or evidence of crime, digital evidence. This issue is being completed for handling.

Regarding solutions, Minister of Public Security To Lam emphasized the need to continue perfecting the legal framework in the fight against acts of propaganda, insulting the honor of others, humiliation, and slander in cyberspace.

“We coordinate with competent authorities to develop legal regulations, including measures to handle illegal acts in cyberspace,” said Mr. To Lam.

Coordination with ministries and sectors to propagate and refute opposing, defamatory and distorting activities on cyberspace will also be enhanced.

Regarding state management and information security, the Ministry of Public Security in coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications requested internet telecommunications service providers to block domestic access to nearly 3,000 websites with bad content; inspect and handle violations of the law on cyberspace, providing false and distorted information; request foreign service providers to coordinate in implementing cooperation requests to handle information that violates Vietnamese law.

Along with that, the police force continues to collect and consolidate evidence against subjects conducting propaganda against the State, defamation, distortion, slander, and insulting honor on cyberspace.

Strictly handle the falsification of psychiatric records

Regarding the issue of falsifying psychiatric records, the Minister of Health said that the police recently discovered two employees collaborating with the subject to create fake psychiatric records and the case is being investigated. Immediately after that, the Ministry summoned representatives of the hospital system and the forensic psychiatric assessment center to rectify the situation.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien also emphasized that the process of diagnosis, detection, medical record making, hospital discharge and admission is issued and reviewed strictly every year.

Forensic psychiatric examination only takes place when the investigation agency or court has handled it and the subject wants to be proven mentally ill, he/she must be examined and supervised by the police.

However, the Minister of Health also noted that if there was a falsification of medical records here, the police certainly would not have enough grounds to determine that the patient was mentally ill and would have to go through the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry. In the near future, a system of regional Forensic Psychiatry Centers will be established, through which the police will consider the patient to be truly mentally ill.

Faced with this issue, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan requested the Ministry of Public Security to strictly handle the case of psychiatric arrest, and coordinate with the Ministry of Health to prevent this situation from recurring. The Ministry of Health also needs to pay attention to not allowing individuals in the industry to commit such violations. Because public opinion is very upset about the evasion of criminal responsibility by fake psychiatric records./.