Reports from the Ministries of Public Security and Information and Communications, the Party Central Committee’s Communications and Education Commission, and the Party Central Committee’s Office identified several websites that have published stories slandering the government, distorting the Party’s guidelines and the government’s policies. These websites and many others of reactionary groups aboard have disturbed the online information environment, aroused people against the Party and State, and created public doubts about national development and reform.

With the rapid development of information technology in general and the Internet in particular, more than 30.8 million Vietnamese people, over 35% of the population, have access to the Internet. People are overwhelmed by prompt information from diverse sources, including a lot of unverified information. In an online dialogue with the public on the Government Web Portal in June, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son said distorted and slanderous information should be controlled. “The Journalism Law and related laws must regulate this activity because it violates other people’s dignity, freedom, and prestige. We, the communications management agency, have drafted a decree on Internet management, including online games and blogs, to limit activities that take advantage of the Internet to violate the law and infringe the rights of others’, Son says.

The Internet appeared in Vietnam in the late 1990s. Thanks to the government’s incentive policies to develop the Internet, Vietnam has seen a growing number of Internet users, thousands of online newspapers and web portals created by sectors, organizations, localities, and individuals, and millions of personal blogs. Several websites have taken advantage of the freedom of speech to advocate the overthrow of the regime. The Prime Minister’s directive to investigate and prosecute the online publication of distorted information to smear the government leadership and oppose the Party and State shows the government’s determination to prevent activities exploiting freedom of speech to attack the State, violate personal rights, and create a negative impact on society. The directive adheres to the policy of developing and managing the Internet, which is necessary for Vietnam or any other nation in administering information on the Internet. Nguyen The Ky is Deputy Head of the Commission for Communications and Education of the Party Central Committee. “Domestic mass media including online newspapers should cover events promptly, accurately, interestingly, and usefully to attract readers. When the public get sufficient information they don’t want to look for outside sources. The Commission for Communication and Education, the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association should adopt a mechanism to help media get information promptly and sufficiently. We have to reflect the real nature of the story to help the public understand it,” Ky elaborates.  

Like many other countries, the Vietnamese government has offered incentives to promote the Internet’s advantages in socio-economic development, while exerting effort to minimize its side effects on society and ensure social order.