The Prime Minister signed a decision on May 28 to issue regulations on speech and provision of information for the press. With biased views and a lack of goodwill, the British Broadcasting Corporation and several other western media agencies reported that the regulations would restrict the provision of information for the press in the country. They even jumped to conclusions that the decision would make it difficult for Vietnamese people to get access to sources of information and limit the free development of the domestic press.

This is just their ill-intentioned prejudice against the Vietnamese press and journalists’ activities. First of all, the issuance of the regulations conforms to the Press Law and the development of information at present. The Vietnamese Press Law states that the press not only truthfully reflects developments in Vietnam and around the world but also serves as a reliable forum of the people. In the present era of information technology explosion, not all information sources are reliable because they depend on the capability of information providers and sometimes their impure political motives. Therefore, the issuance of the regulations is necessary as it aims to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese press to fulfill its duties and obligations by using reliable sources of information and helping people enjoy their right to information.

According to the regulations, the spokesperson and information provider of State administrative agencies must be heads of these agencies or those authorised by heads of these agencies. The name and rank of the spokesperson must be made public in written documents sent to press agencies. The spokesperson and information provider must be virtuous, honest, competent and unbiased. The provision of information is regularly done in different ways, for instance, by organising press conferences and releasing information on the Government’s website, in writing or in a direct way.

Through these ways, the Vietnamese press can get easy access to different sources of information catering to readers’ tastes and interests. It is obvious that the issuance of the regulations does not restrict the free development of the press in Vietnam as the BBC and several other western media agencies have stated. The Government’s issuance of the regulations and the State management of the press according to the law does not affect the citizens’ right to freedom of the press or journalists’ activities.

The press and its activities in Vietnam serve national interests and developments as well as people’s physical and spiritual lives. With more than 550 press agencies and more than 700 publications of different types, from the print media to radio and television broadcasting to online newspapers, every Vietnamese citizen enjoys an average of 7.5 newspapers a year. Such rapid development of the press gives Vietnamese people many options for accessing information without any trouble and that’s a fact.