Rejecting distorted and slanderous arguments about freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Vietnam

(LĐ online) - In Vietnam, freedom of the press and freedom of speech are guaranteed by the State, clearly demonstrated in both legal and practical aspects.

However, taking advantage of the guise of “freedom of the press”, “freedom of speech”, and “human rights”, hostile forces have been trying to carry out peaceful evolution in the political and ideological fields to manipulate public opinion, cause social disorder, and sabotage our Party and State. Specifically: Recently, a number of foreign organizations, news agencies, and newspapers such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Viet Tan, Radio Free Asia (RFA), VOA Vietnamese... still use the old tricks and old tones, deliberately spreading the word that: In Vietnam, “There is no freedom of speech, freedom of the press”; “There is no respect for and no guarantee of freedom of the press and freedom of speech”; “Vietnam is one of the countries with the most strict internet censorship in the world…”; “Vietnam controls and stifles freedom of the press and freedom of the internet”; or "The Party strictly controls ideology and freedom of speech, plans the press, forces journalists to highly self-censor, hunts down and limits dissenting voices in all spaces"... Obviously, they intentionally make false and unobjective comments and assessments as above in order to lower our country's reputation in the international arena.

In fact, the Vietnamese State has built a legal framework on citizens' freedom of speech, press, and access to information that is complete, consistent, and completely compatible with international law on human rights. "Citizens have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, access to information, association, and demonstration. The exercise of these rights is prescribed by law" and affirms: "Human rights and citizens' rights can only be restricted according to the provisions of law in necessary cases for reasons of national defense, national security, social order and safety, social morality, and public health" (Article 25, Constitution 2013).

This provision is also institutionalized in many Vietnamese legal documents, such as the 2015 Penal Code, amended in 2017; the 2016 Press Law... Accordingly, citizens have full press freedom rights: creating press works; providing information to the press; responding to information in the press; accessing press information; associating with press agencies to produce press products; printing and distributing printed newspapers. Meanwhile, press agencies and journalists in our country have been operating freely according to the law and the Press Law.

Article 13 of the Press Law stipulates: “The State creates favorable conditions for citizens to exercise their right to freedom of the press and freedom of speech in the press and for the press to properly promote its role. The press and journalists operate within the framework of the law and are protected by the State. No one is allowed to abuse the right to freedom of the press and freedom of speech in the press to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens. The press is not subject to censorship before printing, transmitting and broadcasting”…

Because of deliberate fabrication, reactionary forces and political opportunists deliberately ignore this and ignore specific figures, demonstrating the strong development of the Vietnamese press. As of December 2023, the whole country has 127 press agencies, 671 magazine agencies, 72 radio and television agencies. There are 57 foreign television channels licensed for editing, translating, and broadcasting, including channels such as CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, TV5, DW, NHK, KBS, Australia Network... International media agencies and most of the world's major media channels can reach the Vietnamese public easily and conveniently without any technological or legal barriers...

Vietnam currently has about 41,000 people working in the field of journalism, of which approximately 16,500 are in the radio and television sector. The total number of people granted press cards for the 2021-2025 term as of December 2023 is 20,508, of which 7,587 have a university degree or higher in journalism... In Vietnam, not only professional reporters and journalists but all citizens have the right to create journalistic works and express their opinions in the press.

And there is a fact that the anti-political forces deliberately do not mention: for many years, the Vietnamese press has published people's opinions from important matters of the country such as: participating in giving opinions on law making, critical opinions, proposing opinions on policies... to comments and recommendations, viewpoints on many fields... At the same time, widely, publicly and transparently informing people about issues of concern, hot issues of the country... These activities have actively contributed to strengthening people's trust in our Party and State, concretely and vividly demonstrating freedom of the press and freedom of speech in our country.

In the current context, the dynamic internet environment with the 12th largest number of users in the world and the 6th largest in the region is one of the examples of achievements in ensuring freedom of information, freedom of speech and press in Vietnam (as of January 2023, Vietnam has 77.93 million internet users, accounting for 79.1% of the total population). All people are free to participate in social networks such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tiktok, ... without any hindrance; have access to information sources in a multi-dimensional and objective manner, and express their opinions on information and communication platforms.

It is this “comfort” that some individuals have taken advantage of to post false information on social networks, causing confusion among the public and the masses. Among them, there are those who harm national security and social order and safety, violating Vietnamese law. Such cases must be handled according to the provisions of the law.

Obviously, entering the digital age, in the rapid development of the information environment and cyberspace, Vietnam is increasingly making efforts to ensure freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of information for people in all fields.

Therefore, it is impossible to use the so-called “freelance journalist” to stand outside the current law; it is impossible to take advantage of democratic freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of speech to write, disseminate, and speak out false, harmful information or produce and launch publications to propagate against the Party and the State of Vietnam. At the same time, it is impossible to have illusions about the so-called unlimited or disorganized, undisciplined freedom of the press because then it will cause serious consequences for society.

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/chinh-tri/202406/bac-bo-luan-dieu-xuyen-tac-vu-cao-ve-tu-do-bao-chi-va-tu-do-ngon-luan-o-viet-nam-b08086a/