The forum “Media: From information to knowledge for a resilient and adaptive ASEAN” aims at ASEAN’s joint efforts to create a healthy and reliable information space for the people.
On September 19, the ASEAN Forum on Countering and Handling Fake News in Cyberspace took place in Da Nang City. This activity is part of the 16th ASEAN Ministers on Information (AMRI) and related senior officials meetings with the theme “Media: From Information to Knowledge for a Resilient and Adaptive ASEAN” hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam.
The forum included representatives of electronic information management agencies of 8 ASEAN countries; representatives of press agencies of ASEAN countries; representatives of some cross-border platforms (Google, Tiktok) and representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat.
ASEAN's determination to minimize the harm of fake news
In his welcoming and opening remarks at the Forum, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam said that from 2017 to present, regarding the issue of fake news and disinformation, ASEAN has issued many statements and activities to raise awareness of the harmful effects of fake news and disinformation, such as organizing programs and seminars to share policies on managing and handling fake news; campaigns to improve digital literacy for people to enhance understanding and mutual learning among e-commerce management agencies.
Notably, at the 14th AMRI Ministerial Meeting, the Ministers adopted the Framework and Joint Statement on Reducing the Harmful Effects of Fake News , providing a common reference framework for ASEAN member countries to enhance cooperation, share information and propose feasible solutions to address the problem of fake news proliferation and its negative impacts, for the benefit of ASEAN people.
In 2022, the 19th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Information (SOMRI) officially approved Vietnam's initiative to establish the ASEAN Task Force on Fake News.
However, activities in this phase have only stopped at sharing policies and experiences among state management agencies (QLNN) and have not been expanded to press and radio agencies (participating in the role of enhancing official information, detecting, publishing and correcting fake news, etc.) or research agencies/media units (participating in the role of independent research and verification organizations) or cross-border social network service providers (MXH).
Therefore, the Forum aims to create an open space for exchange between state management agencies, the press, cross-border platforms and relevant parties to affirm the determination of ASEAN countries in minimizing the harmful effects of fake news, towards ASEAN's common efforts to create a healthy and trustworthy information space for the people.
The forum consists of 2 parts: Part 1 reflects ASEAN countries' efforts to join hands in combating and handling fake news and misinformation; Recommendations for future measures; Experiences from countries in the region and media agencies; Policies to promote digital literacy and media policies from some ASEAN countries as well as policies of platforms in handling fake news and misinformation and safety guidelines when participating online.
Part 2 of the event is now available. discuss recommendations and measures for cooperation in responding to and handling fake news and disinformation on cyberspace, promoting cooperation within the ASEAN region, between governments and localities of ASEAN member countries and social media platforms.
Sharing vision, policies and solutions to handle fake news in cyberspace
Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (PTTH&TTĐT), Ministry of Information and Communications, affirmed that to effectively combat fake news, the participation of the entire political system, enterprises and all people is needed. In which, the political system includes government agencies from the central to local levels, organizations and press agencies. On the business side, it is online platforms, especially social networks, the advertising and media industry.
Vietnam has taken many actions against fake news and disinformation on cyberspace, such as establishing, updating and supplementing the legal framework and policies; controlling online information, detecting false news and disinformation; closely cooperating between government agencies and social media platforms; and promoting education to raise public awareness of false information.
Vietnam has also adopted tough measures such as verifying social media users by phone number; removing false content within 24 hours instead of 48 hours as before, or removing it immediately if it is fake or untrue information affecting national security. At the same time, social media accounts, pages, groups and channels that frequently post false content will be temporarily or permanently suspended.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has officially launched the Fake News Handling Center at tingia.gov.vn and the number to receive and report fake news is 18008108. With the mission of becoming a fake news handling center and spreading the truth, tingia.gov.vn has 4 main sections: Receiving feedback; Publishing fake news; Fake news statistics; News.
Sharing his experiences, the representative from Thailand said that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Digital Society of Thailand has also established the Anti-Fake News Center (AFNC) to prevent, suppress and solve the problem of spreading fake news. AFNC will be responsible for monitoring, reviewing and correcting information. People will report suspicious news to officials through official channels such as TV channels, websites, official hotlines, Facebook, Twitter.
In Malaysia, the first effective line of defense against the circulation of fake news is through public-private partnerships, where government agencies work together with agencies, businesses and communities to contain the menace of fake news in the shortest possible time.
Administrative measures to deal with fake news and false content will include coordination between relevant ministries and government agencies to verify content; with platform providers to remove fake content; and establishment of a fake news task force with the Ministry of Communications and Digital.
Myanmar’s anti-fake news solution also requires technology companies to ensure the safety of content for users. Myanmar will continue to provide accurate news, educate the public, and commit to continuing cooperation with ASEAN countries in fighting fake news, calling for cooperation within ASEAN countries.
Representing Vietnamese press agencies attending the Forum, Mr. Tran Ngoc Long from VietnamPlus newspaper, shared about effective and creative solutions of news agencies and newspapers in the fight against fake news and false information on cyberspace.
Mr. Tran Ngoc Long said that in 2016 and previous years, not many people in the media and Internet users in Vietnam were concerned about so-called fake news. But the problem of fake news is getting more and more attention.
A BuzzFeed survey found that fake news attracted 8.7 million interactions in the last three months of the 2016 US presidential campaign, while news from popular sources such as the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN only had 7.3 million shares and comments.
In the fight against fake news, VietnamPlus works closely with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Information and Communications and a number of other ministries in Vietnam. “ When we receive any rumors and fake evidence provided by these ministries, our reporters will check the news sources and disseminate accurate information to warn readers and viewers,” said Mr. Tran Ngoc Long.
In addition, VietnamPlus also engages readers, especially the Generation Z public, to detect fake news on social media. Any TikTok or Facebook user can tag @Factcheckvn or Vietnamplus if they think there is any suspicious news on the social media platform, so that VietnamPlus reporters can detect fake news and publish accurate information in the form of interviews with experts or relevant authorities.
VietnamPlus has been assigned to manage the Factcheckvn project of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) since 2020. “ We were surprised to see a very high view rate from Bangladesh and Nigeria on the TikTok Factcheckvn channel. TikTok Factcheckvn is VNA’s gateway to Generation Z. As of now, we have 268,400 followers and 1.5 million likes. Our project has received good feedback from many readers and viewers ,” said Mr. Tran Ngoc Long.
Closing the Forum, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam emphasized essential points that need to be prioritized by relevant parties in ASEAN, including: (1) community education; (2) official channels; (3) technological advancement; (4) enhanced cooperation; (5) regular sharing of experiences and best practices./.
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