Seminar seeks opinions on draft decree on Internet-based services

A seminar was organised on February 17 to gather experts’ opinions on a draft decree on amendments and supplements to Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP (Decree 72) on the management, provision and use of Internet-based services and information on the Internet, which aim to create more relevant regulatory frameworks for the growth of the Internet and digital economy in Vietnam.

Illustrative photo. (Photo: VNA)
Illustrative photo. (Photo: VNA)

The seminar was held by the Vietnam Digital Communications Association (VDCA) in collaboration with the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development (IPS) and the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC).

VDCA Chairman Nguyen Minh Hong said the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed people’s life, particularly the way they interact with the world. Today, meetings, entertainment activities, video games and transactions of goods are all non-fungible tokens (NFTs) made trans-nationally, he said, emphasising that digital technology plays a critical part in recovering, sustaining and boosting economic growth in the post-pandemic period.

As Vietnam is expecting the digital economy to account for 20 percent of its GDP by 2025, the government has not only been accelerating the development of digital infrastructure but also improving related policies, particularly those related to Internet-based services, for example, cross-border information provision services, cloud computing, data storage, online games, and social networks, Hong noted, adding that these are shown in the draft decree.

Attendees at the seminar made recommendations related to cyber-information security, settlement of disputes on copyright, fake news, domain names, licensing social networks, online games, among others.

The IPS will continue collecting feedback on the draft decree online which will be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Communications and relevant agencies for finalisation.