Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hungon November 8 answered National Assembly deputies’ questions regarding differentissues, including the management of the press and information on the internet.

AnsweringHoa Binh province’s deputy Bach Thi Huong Thuy’s question on legal regulationsto protect personal information amidst the current information boom, theminister said that the rules on protecting personal secrets are included in thePress Law.

In2019, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has handled three violationcases in this field, Hung noted.

Theexcessive exploitation of personal information is related to occupational ethicsand awareness of journalists, therefore, along with completing the law in thefield, the ministry will coordinate with the Vietnam Journalists’ Associationto enhance education and raise journalists’ awareness of their missions andresponsibilities, he said.

TheGovernment has also assigned the MIC to build a decree on the protection of personalinformation, the minister added.

Respondingto Tien Giang province’s representative Nguyen Thanh Hai’s query on measures tomanage the press’s quality and avoid bad impacts on society, Hung admitted thatthere has been no effective solution to the problem.

Hesaid that in the future, the ministry will work with technology companies toreview the titles and contents of media articles to ensure they are matchedeach other.

Ona question raised by deputy Dang Thi Phuong Thao from Nam Dinh province, onwhat the ministry has done to thoroughly deal with the problem in which manyonline magazines operates in contrary with their mottos but like newspapers, theminister said that this is a legal violation.

Henoted that in recent years, the ministry has been reported that some magazinesdid not focus on their professional matters but spreading news andinvestigation reports. The MIC, the Party Central Committee’s Commission forInformation and Education and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association are working closelytogether to seek solutions.

Oneof the measures is to clarify the registered mottos of media agencies to re-issuetheir licenses, and define the responsibility of the management units of mediaagencies, he said.

Regardinga question by deputy Nguyen Hong Van from Phu Yen on the planning andmanagement of the press, TV and radio broadcasting networks, the MIC leadersaid that Vietnam currently has 868 media agencies.

Recognisingthe need to re-organise the press system, the Prime Minister has signed a planningscheme for national media development and management towards 2025, he said,adding that the MIC has issued a plan to implement the planning, which isexpected to be finished in 2020.

Onthe occasion, he asked leaders of ministries, sectors and agencies support therealization of the planning.

Respondingto a query by An Giang province’s representative Nguyen Lan Hieu on measures tostop the uncontrolled removal of stories by online news websites, Hung saidthat the ministry has applied a tool to detect the websites’ removal ofarticles.

Meanwhile,the Vietnam Journalists’ Association has built a code of conducts forjournalists, he said.

Overthe worry of deputy Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa from Dong Thap that whether the ministryis applying the management model for themainstream press on social networks,Hung said that they are different spaces and require different managementmethods.

Herevealed that in the coming time, the ministry will submit to the Government acode of conduct on the internet space./.