The Director of one of Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City Open University’s two campuses, Nguyễn Văn Vẹn, at a forum on communication and brand names in the digital age, said the country needs a legal framework for digital communication.
According to a press release, he said it should also set up a system to identify communication crimes to detect disinformation and fake news.
At the forum, an industry expert stated that there are 64 million active social media users in the country, up from 55 million last year. Some 11 million posts are uploaded every day and receive 60 million comments.
Social media is greatly influencing society with its rapid dissemination of information, while the number of communication crises on social media increased 25-fold in 2017 from just two years earlier, the release said.
Business executives attending the forum said their products and brand names were often faked and published on social media, affecting their companies’ reputation.
The Deputy Head of the Authority of Press said when enterprises face such a situation they should complain to the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information.
A press representative noted that it was very important that enterprises pay attention to the quality of their products instead of merely building their image on social media since the latter could collapse rapidly.
The standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association said for enterprises to prevent disinformation, the information they provide needs to be explicit. Using traditional media is the way to resolve communication crises on social media. People still trust traditional media and double-check the information on it, the release said.
The co-founder of the Management and Start-up Community said many enterprises used social media to build their brand name. However, building brand names is not merely done through advertising or communication, he said.
In a digital environment, consumers’ adverse assessments spread rapidly and widely, and businesses need to be able to deal with this.
Vietnam has more than 60% of its 96 million population using the Internet. Each person uses the Internet for more than seven hours a day, higher than the regional and world averages.
OpenGov reported earlier that the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) recently held the 13th Security World conference aimed to enhance data security, safety, and security for the financial banking and state management agencies.
During the event, the Ministry said that cyberattacks are increasingly complicated and dangerous. This requires a comprehensive security solution encompassing regulations, technology, and human resources.
The world has witnessed a lot of hacker attacks on the major bank systems of the world, stealing tens of millions of euros and dollars. Many banks and important information systems in Vietnam have also suffered cyberattacks with great economic losses.
There are five main trends in cybersecurity in Vietnam in 2019. These include attacks on e-commerce and financial-banking systems to steal information and users’ data; attacks on state agencies and organisations; impersonating agencies, organisations, and individuals to spread malicious information on the cyberspace; using artificial intelligence to spread malware; attacking infrastructure or IoT devices.
The country should invest in human resources along with co-operating with professional security service providers. Users’ awareness and data backup is a crucial element.