VietNamNet Bridge – Replying to the complaint that the current regulations cannot generate a fair playing field for domestic and foreign Internet service firms, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) is thinking of a special mechanism which encourage domestic firms develop Internet services such as social networks or search engines.

Information on Internet keeps people indifferent to printed newspapers

Hoang Vinh Bao, a senior official of MIC has cited the report of a market survey firm in 2011 as saying that 95 percent of Internet users access to the network mostly to read information on general websites and social networks. Meanwhile, 95 percent of people accessing Internet use searching engine.

The 2011’s report of Yahoo! about the Internet use in four big cities also showed that the percentage of people seeking information on Internet is now higher than that of people reading printed newspapers or listening to radio.

A report released in July 2012 showed that of the 10 websites which have the highest users in Vietnam, four are social media websites, while the others are online newspapers.

Bao has admitted that domestic firms have been at a disadvantage when competing with foreign ones.

He explained that the problem lies in the characteristic of Internet that information can be provided across the borders. A behavior could be considered as violating the laws of a nation, but may be accepted in another country.

This happens that while Vietnamese Internet firms have to bear the strict regulations stipulated by the Vietnamese laws, the foreign firms which provide services across the borders do not bear any restrictions.

As a result, foreign firms can make their service contents more attractive to lure more Vietnamese users, thus having advantages to Vietnamese firms.

“Therefore, we need to build up a special mechanism to encourage domestic firms to develop some important Internet services to attract Vietnamese users, while it’s necessary to focus on the most important ones such as social networks, search engine and online entertainment services,” Bao said.

It’s obvious that MIC not only plans to help domestic firms develop their business to enjoy economic benefits, but also aims to effectively control the way Internet information reaches out to Vietnamese people.

Le Manh Ha, Deputy Chair of the HCM City People’s Committee, also said that the state should apply a reasonable management policy to minimize the negative impacts of Internet on people’s lives.

If Vietnam tightens the management by blocking the ways for people to access Internet, it would hinder the development of Internet and harm the people’s right to access information.

As for information websites, Ha said, the best way to manage them not to watch the websites everyday to find out the violations, but to take initiative to provide accurate official information.

Until now, Vietnam still has been following an old way to manage the Internet use. State agencies only release official information after false information appear on mass media.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communication, by the end of 2012, Vietnam had had 12 purely online newspapers and journals, nearly 300 news websites. Regarding the social media, there have been 1,200 general news websites have been licensed, 330 social networks have registered their operation. Besides, there is also a very big number of personal blogs.

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