Vietnam, Facebook strengthen coordination

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan received Damian Yeo, head of legal and regulatory affairs for Facebook in the Asia Pacific region, in Hanoi, on January 11.

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan (R) presents a gift to Damian Yeo, head of legal and regulatory affairs for Facebook in the Asia Pacific region. (Credit: NDO)
Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan (R) presents a gift to Damian Yeo, head of legal and regulatory affairs for Facebook in the Asia Pacific region. (Credit: NDO)

During the meeting, Minister Tuan expressed his appreciation for the recent cooperation of Facebook in dealing with issues of the Vietnamese Government’s concern.

He said the two sides have worked together in removing information violating Vietnamese laws and fake accounts, as well as preventing illegal trading activities on Facebook, at the proposal of the Vietnamese Information and Communications Ministry (MIC).

The minister noted that Facebook has removed more than 670 out of nearly 5,000 Facebook accounts that are false or spread defamation, obscenity and violence, but the remaining accounts are causing concern in many areas.

In addition, many harmful and unlawful video clips that have been blocked and removed from Google and Youtube at the request of the MIC still appear and are spread on Facebook.

The minister stressed that Vietnam is particularly concerned about information that incites anti-government and anti-Party sentiment, violence, or smears the regime, and called for Facebook’s collaboration to deal with the problem.

He called for an improved cooperation mechanism to ensure a healthy and law-abiding development of Facebook in Vietnam, along with an effective coordination mechanism between Vietnam and Facebook to address the issues of Vietnam’s concern.

Noting that 70% of Vietnam’s population use the internet and 53 million Vietnamese use Facebook and other social networks, Minister Tuan said that he hopes Facebook would work together with Vietnam to build a healthy information society in accordance with Vietnamese legal regulations, adding that Vietnam always welcomes Facebook and other social networks.

Damian Yeo pledged to join hands with the authorised Vietnamese agencies to develop a healthy internet environment, and focus on dealing with negative information on a global scale, including the relevant proposal from the MIC.

In 2018, Facebook will continue closely coordinating with Vietnam in this work, through organising working sessions to share experience and seek solutions to the issue, he said.

He proposed establishing a channel to better deal with information violating Vietnamese law on social networks, which was welcomed by Minister Truong Minh Tuan.