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| State management agencies require businesses providing digital services and content on the network environment to strengthen the implementation of technical measures, filtering, and removing content inappropriate for children on social networking platforms. (Illustration photo) |
Efforts to prevent and combat cyber violence
The State and social organizations in Vietnam have paid early attention to preventing and combating cyber violence and have made initial efforts, focusing most on protecting children - the most vulnerable to this problem.
Since 2020, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the Ministry of Public Security have closely coordinated to handle issues that negatively affect children in the online environment; with the motto of promptly and resolutely handling violations, especially the posting of bad and toxic information on social networks Facebook and Youtube.
State management agencies have also requested businesses providing digital services and content on the network environment to strictly comply with Vietnamese laws on ensuring information safety and security, protecting personal information, and protecting children on the network environment; and to strengthen the implementation of technical measures, filtering, and removing content inappropriate for children on social networking platforms.
On June 1, 2021, the Prime Minister approved the Program to protect and support children to interact healthily and creatively in the online environment. Accordingly, the authorities have built and integrated online notification channels on issues related to children in the online environment with the National Child Protection Hotline No. 111.
This hotline has received, processed, analyzed, consulted, provided psychological support, and detected and connected to the network for responding to and protecting children online, and issued documents requesting verification and handling of cases of abuse and suspected child abuse online.
Regarding the law, although Vietnam does not have any legal documents directly regulating the issue of cyber violence, there are some legal regulations related to this issue.
For example, Clause 1, Article 21 of the 2013 Constitution clearly states: “ Everyone has the right to inviolability of private life, personal secrets and family secrets; has the right to protect his or her honor and reputation; information about private life, personal secrets and family secrets is guaranteed by law.”
Thus, the honor, dignity, and private life of each person (which are the targets of cyber violence) are objects protected by the highest legal document, the Constitution.
To specify this for the network environment, Clause 3, Article 16 of the 2018 Law on Cyber Security strictly prohibits network users from posting information that: “a) Seriously offends the honor, reputation, and dignity of others; b) Fabricated or false information that infringes upon the honor, reputation, and dignity or causes damage to the legitimate rights and interests of other agencies, organizations, and individuals”.
Clauses 6, 7, 8, and 9 set out the responsibility for handling, coordinating, and removing such information with all relevant entities including: information system owners, specialized forces for protecting network security, network service providers, and organizations and individuals posting information. This provision has a direct effect in eliminating and preventing the spread of information of a cyber-violent nature on the Internet.
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| Illustration photo. (Source: Shutterstock) |
Existing challenges
Despite many efforts and initial results in preventing cyber violence, the fight against this problem in Vietnam still faces many difficulties and challenges.
Regarding the legal framework . Although there are legal regulations that are effective in handling cyber violence, the content of these regulations does not currently cover all cyber violence. Meanwhile, there are no regulations on the concept of cyber violence, making it difficult to identify and handle this type of behavior.
According to current law, only acts of spreading false information that seriously infringe upon the honor, dignity, rights and legitimate interests of organizations and individuals will be subject to criminal prosecution, while what is "serious" is not clearly defined.
In addition, cyberbullying is not only manifested through the dissemination of false information, but also through the dissemination of true information in a way that intentionally harms the dignity of others.
Therefore, with current legal regulations, it is very difficult to criminally prosecute common acts of cyber violence such as malicious comments, statuses containing defamatory content or threatening messages... In addition, the administrative penalty for acts of violating honor and dignity is not appropriate and lacks deterrence.
According to the provisions of Point a, Clause 3, Article 7 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP dated December 31, 2021, acts of provocation, teasing, insulting, abusing, and defaming the honor and dignity of others will only be fined from 2-3 million VND.
Technical measures to prevent and combat cyber violence are also limited. This solution depends largely on the policies of suppliers and companies managing foreign social networking platforms such as Facebook and Google. In particular, Vietnam has not yet dealt with the problem of fake accounts on online platforms, which is a popular tool for carrying out cyber violence.
Users can still easily create a social network account or many types of accounts on other platforms without providing identifying information or can provide fake information - virtual accounts. Bad guys can use virtual accounts to insult others, bully online, spread fake news without fear of being discovered.
Socially: Although awareness of cyber violence has gradually increased thanks to propaganda and education, the positive change is currently only localized in large cities.
In most localities, especially in rural areas, people's awareness of preventing and combating cyber violence is still very limited. In addition, educational programs and activities on cyber violence are mainly aimed at children, pupils and students, and have not paid due attention to adults who are also heavily affected by cyber violence.
Regarding victim support, Vietnam currently lacks psychological treatment facilities, including in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, psychological counseling rooms in schools are ineffective and formal. The hospital system has very few psychology departments and psychologists. Therefore, victims of psychological trauma due to cyber violence find it difficult to find effective help for treatment and recovery.
| A recent survey by the Internet and Society Research Program shows that nearly 80% of internet users in Vietnam have confirmed that they have been victims or have known cases of hate speech on social networks. According to another study by Microsoft Corporation, more than 5 out of 10 internet users in Vietnam are involved in bullying behavior. Cases of victims resorting to extreme solutions such as suicide due to online bullying have also appeared in our country. |
Strengthening prevention and combating cyber violence in Vietnam
From the above mentioned situation and referring to the experiences of some countries mentioned in the second article, it is possible to implement some solutions to improve the effectiveness of preventing and combating cyber violence to protect human rights in Vietnam.
Firstly , it is necessary to continue to improve the legal framework to more comprehensively and strictly regulate cyber violence as well as how to handle and sanction cyber violence. It is also necessary to develop a definition of cyber violence that ensures comprehensiveness and covers cyber violence, thereby clearly distinguishing this behavior from other similar behaviors, creating a basis for identification and handling.
Additional regulations on cyber violence should be incorporated into current legal documents such as the Law on Cyber Security, the Law on Information Security, etc., and do not necessarily need to be developed into a separate law.
Second , there should be stricter regulations in prosecuting and punishing acts of cyber violence. In this regard, Vietnam can refer to the provisions of Article 307 of the Korean Criminal Code on Defamation, which states: “A person who defames another person by publicly disclosing true information to damage the honor and dignity of another person shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine of not more than five million Won.
A person who defames another person by publicly providing false information to damage the honor and dignity of another person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 5 years, suspension of qualifications for not more than 10 years, or a fine of not more than 10 million Won.
Thus, according to Korean law, any act of defamation or insult to another person’s honor or dignity can be criminally prosecuted, regardless of the severity of the consequences. This will overcome the limitations in current Vietnamese law regarding the determination of the “seriousness” of acts of insulting honor or dignity, and at the same time provide a higher deterrent effect.
Third , the State needs to coordinate with network operators and companies managing social networking platforms to implement mandatory identification for social networking accounts, as experienced by China and South Korea.
Currently, users on all social media platforms in China are required to register accounts with their real identities, including their names, state-issued ID numbers, and mobile phone numbers. In 2007, South Korea also implemented a real-name law on social media, requiring all users to verify their identities by submitting their citizen registration number (RRN) to their Internet service provider.
Fourth , it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and education about cyber violence to all people. The content of propaganda and education must be truly comprehensive, from the manifestations of cyber violence to ways to prevent and deal with it, from the consequences of cyber violence to ways to support and help victims.
Fifth , more resources need to be invested in building a system of psychological treatment facilities, ensuring a sufficiently large presence in both urban and rural areas, to help victims of cyber violence more easily access psychological treatment, heal their mental injuries and return to normal life, avoiding letting these injuries become serious and erupt into extreme actions such as suicide.
Vietnam should refer to the good experiences of some other countries to strengthen all solutions to prevent and combat cyber violence, including legal, technical and social solutions. Among those measures, it is necessary to focus on perfecting the legal framework towards stricter regulations and more severe punishment of cyber violence to deter violators.
In addition, it is necessary to promote the application of advanced technical measures to eliminate and prevent cyber-violent content, as well as have effective mechanisms and measures to support and help victims of cyber-violence.
* Master's student, Hanoi Law University.
** School of Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
REFERENCES
1. Vietnam Penal Code 2015 (Amended and supplemented 2017)
2. Decree No. 144/2021/ND-CP dated November 31, 2021 of the Government stipulating administrative sanctions for violations in the fields of security, order, and social safety; prevention and control of social evils; fire prevention and fighting; rescue; prevention and control of domestic violence
3. https://vtv.vn/xa-hoi/gan-80-dan-mang-tai-viet-nam-la-nan-nhan-hoac-biet-truong-hop-phat-ngon-gay-thu-ghet-20210613184442516.htm
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