Draft Law on Press (amended) Creating a synchronous legal foundation for developing professional and modern press

Giving opinions on the reception and revision of the draft Press Law (amended), the National Assembly Standing Committee proposed that the relevant agencies continue to coordinate closely to thoroughly review, receive opinions, perfect both the content and technical aspects of the document, and build a draft Law of the highest quality, creating a synchronous legal foundation for the Vietnamese press to develop professionally, humanely, and modernly, meeting new requirements.

Standardize professional skills and improve the capacity of journalists

At the 10th Session, the National Assembly discussed and gave opinions in the Group and Hall on the draft Law on Press (amended). There were 90 opinions expressed by National Assembly deputies and 5 written opinions from National Assembly delegations. Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the Standing Committee of the Committee coordinated to synthesize the opinions of National Assembly deputies, organized many meetings with the drafting agency, relevant agencies and experts to study, absorb, explain and revise the draft Law. Basically, the draft Law has promptly institutionalized the Party's policies and guidelines, meeting the practical requirements of press management and development in the current period.

Appreciating the drafting agency and the reviewing agency for their coordination in studying, absorbing, and revising the draft Law over the past time, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man acknowledged that the draft Law has specific and feasible provisions on press support policies and tax incentives for the press as stipulated in the Law on Corporate Income Tax. Accordingly, the press enjoys a tax rate of 10%, instead of only printed press enjoying a tax rate of 10%, other types of press are subject to a tax rate of 20% as before.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks at the meeting. Photo: Pham Thang

In addition, the National Assembly Chairman stated that the draft Law has been revised and perfected to provide financial support for the press to carry out political and public service tasks as clearly stated in Clause 3, Article 10; on training and fostering press human resources to ensure standardization of professional skills and ethics, and improve the capacity of journalists (Clause 4, Article 12); on fostering professional ethics and journalism skills for journalists (Clause 4, Article 13)...

The National Assembly Chairman noted that at this 10th Session, the National Assembly will for the first time promulgate the Law on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is related to the draft Law on Press (amended). Therefore, it is necessary to continue to coordinate a thorough and comprehensive review of the draft Law with current laws as well as the draft law being submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at this Session to ensure consistency and uniformity in regulations related to the press, science and technology, digital transformation, information security, advertising and intellectual property.

The National Assembly Chairman also emphasized that although the reviewing agency and the drafting agency have reached an agreement, they still have to actively "sit down" to review each clause, each article, each chapter to make adjustments, so that the draft Law, when passed by the National Assembly, will have a long "lifespan", contributing to further improving the effectiveness of press management in the coming time.

Currently, the Government is accepting the draft Law on Artificial Intelligence in the direction that the contents of using AI in specialized fields will be regulated in specialized laws. Raising this issue, Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai suggested considering adding a "framework" article to the draft Law to ensure consistency and coordination between laws when applied in practice. "Specialized laws such as the Law on Higher Education, the Law on Vocational Education, and the Law on Education (areas heavily influenced by AI), if possible, can add framework provisions," the Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment emphasized.

Ensure consistency with relevant laws

Concluding the discussion, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong highly appreciated the initiative, sense of responsibility and close coordination of the Standing Committee of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Standing Committee of the Law and Justice Committee, and relevant agencies in studying, absorbing and explaining the opinions of National Assembly deputies in groups and halls. Thanks to that, the documents submitted to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly were prepared seriously, elaborately and fully according to regulations; absorbing and adjusting many contents compared to the original draft.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, Senior Lieutenant General Tran Quang Phuong chaired the meeting. Photo: Pham Thang

Basically agreeing with the contents that have been absorbed and revised in the draft, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly also proposed to continue to carefully review, ensure consistency and unity in the legal system, especially with the draft laws submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the Tenth Session, paying special attention to the draft Law on Artificial Intelligence. Because, in the absorption, this draft Law determines that it will only stipulate the framework, the specific content will be stipulated in specialized laws. The Draft Law on Press (amended) is one of the specialized laws, so it is also necessary to stipulate this content.

Regarding some contents, concepts, terms, and principles of press activities, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested to clarify the definitions and legal status of journalists to ensure transparency and consistency in the draft Law. Supplement and review policies on press development and ensure resources for implementation, especially financial mechanisms to support the press in performing public service tasks and tasks assigned by competent authorities; invest in infrastructure and tax incentives to ensure feasibility.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly also emphasized the need to clarify the conditions for press activities, licensing mechanisms and organizational structure, especially the types of press, criteria for key multimedia press agencies, activities of representative offices, and resident reporters that need to be closely reviewed. Review regulations on press cards, legal responsibility for information content, the right to request corrections and removal of violating information (Articles 34 and 35) to ensure strictness, feasibility, and suitability to reality.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly assigned the Standing Committee of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee to continue to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to carefully review and absorb the opinions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly at this session on both content and technical documents. Thereby, building a draft Law of the highest quality, creating a synchronous legal foundation for the Vietnamese press to develop professionally, humanely, and modernly, meeting the new requirements of the cause of building and defending the Fatherland in the period of digital transformation and deep integration.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/du-thao-luat-bao-chi-sua-doi-tao-nen-tang-phap-ly-dong-bo-phat-trien-bao-chi-chuyen-nghiep-hien-dai-10399295.html