Workshop “Illegal hate speech and solutions towards a safe and sustainable social network environment”

Overview of the workshop

This is the first conference in Vietnam on the topic of “Hate Speech”, co-organized by the Program for Internet and Society Studies (VPIS) of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) and the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, Ministry of Information and Communications, with the participation of many professors, doctors and representatives of state agencies, leading media organizations, and representatives from the embassies of the UK, Sweden, and the United States.

The workshop is the first official open forum in Vietnam on the topic of hate speech with the participation of domestic and international management agencies, businesses, and scholars. The forum is a bridge for scientific researchers, policy makers, and social network platform providers to discuss and find feasible solutions, aiming to build a safe and fair social network environment for users.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Internet and Society Research Program, Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities delivered the opening speech at the conference.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop, Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Internet and Society Research Program, Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi affirmed: “Social networks have created a large playground for “global citizens” to freely connect and share. However, it has also become a free and invisible tool that anyone can use to attack or profit from hate speech against individuals and organizations. This situation is becoming increasingly serious and is creating a big challenge not only in Vietnam but also globally.”

According to a survey conducted by VPIS, 78% of respondents in Vietnam confirmed that they had been victims of hate speech on social networks or knew of similar cases.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information - discusses the current situation of hate speech on social networks in Vietnam

To deal with this issue, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Director of the Department of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information, said that recently, the Ministry of Information and Communications, directly the Department of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information, has implemented a series of synchronous solutions, including issuing new regulations in line with the current developments of social networks, conducting dialogues, calling for more cooperation and responsibility from social network platform providers. However, feasible solutions are still needed to move towards long-term and sustainable solutions for the social network user community in Vietnam.

During the workshop, Dr. Pham Hai Chung also said that in order to limit “Hate Speech”, there needs to be closer coordination between state information management agencies and Internet service providers to ensure that hateful content is filtered faster and more accurately, as well as to make those who frequently make “Hate Speech” realize what is wrong.

Faced with the reality that hate speech on the internet is becoming more and more common and causing many serious consequences, the workshop aims to propose, build and implement a "Code of Conduct for Vietnamese social networks" as proposed by the Internet & Society Research Program, University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Dr. Andreas Mattsson, Director of the School of Journalism & Communication, Lund University, shares about the current situation of fake news and hate speech in Sweden

The Code of Conduct has 8 contents. The main content is that Information Technology Companies will be one of the leading units in preventing the spread of hateful and defamatory topics online. These companies will have a process to review illegal hateful and defamatory information so that they can remove illegal information within 24 hours or disable access to this content if necessary.

The workshop ended successfully. In an interview, Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Internet and Society Research Program, Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, expected that in the next 3 to 6 months, there will be a final draft that can meet everyone's needs. This code of conduct, when applied to life, will help raise people's awareness and create increasingly civilized actions in using social networks.

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