Vietnam Should Allow Private Media: Lawmaker

Legislator Le Nhu Tien

Legislator Le Nhu Tien

Vietnam should allow private media to meet the socio-economic development trend in the long run, a lawmaker said at the ongoing session of the National Assembly (NA), the country’s highest legislative body.

by KTT, Nov 20, 2015

Vietnam should allow private media to meet the socio-economic development trend in the long run, a lawmaker said at the ongoing session of the National Assembly (NA), the country’s highest legislative body.

The permission would be suitable with the global trend and support the country’s development process as long as the content would be closely managed by state authorities, lawmaker Bui Thi An at a discussion on the amendment to the Law on Press on Nov 14.

Earlier at the session, Le Nhu Tien, deputy head of the NA’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, said that lawmakers’ proposals on tolerating private media would not be satisfied soon.

Vietnam allows no individuals in the press but it recognizes societies, including schools and hospitals, he said.

Allowing the private sector to join the media landscape shows the country’s greater tolerance of the freedom of press than before, Mr. Tien said, noting that the move is aimed at diversifying the news sources and easing the financial burden on state press agencies.

Private media, however, would cause possible chaos to the press which marks the operation of 845 agencies currently, Mr. Tien noted.

Vietnam has been keeping the ban on private media for the past seven decades. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong has reiterated the policies several times.

Vietnam has been criticized by foreign rights groups for intensified censorship on the press.

So far, dozens of people who advocated for press freedom, including bloggers and freelances, have been put behind the bar for years, according to human rights bodies.

Vietnam continues to be one of the worst jailers of bloggers in the world, with 29 netizens being imprisoned, said the U.S.-based non-governmental Freedom House in its report for the period between June 2014 and May 2015.