The Fourth Industrial Revolution has led to strong developments of cyberspace and opened up both opportunities and challenges for cultural exchange and acculturation of Vietnam and the world. Besides positive values, there are harmful publications, manifestations of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”, and their harmful effects that need to be identified,  countered and rejected.

Toxicity of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is facilitating the strong development of cyberspace, creating a new social environment and space, blurring the gaps in space, time, and social status of individuals, and generating cultural exchanges and acculturation in all fields, among countries and peoples in the world. Vietnam is one of the top countries with the fastest Internet growth rate. The use of cyberspace for people's interaction in learning, working, communication, and entertainment has become increasingly popular in the country. We are facing both opportunities and challenges in accessing a huge number of mankind’s cultural and countercultural products. The Party and State have adopted guidelines and policies to facilitate the preservation and promotion of national cultural identities and absorbance of mankind’s cultural quintessence. However, in the period of deep international integration, especially the cross-border connection in cyberspace, cultural exchanges and acculturation still have deviations, manifested in the phenomenon of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”, significantly affecting the orientation of building an advanced culture in the integration period.

“Xenophilia” in culture can be construed as an overestimation of foreign elements, products, and values, resulting in fanaticism, cult, and pursuit in awareness and action, and disregard of domestic cultural products and values. Meanwhile, cultural “hybridisation” means the acquisition of foreign cultural products and values ​​in cyberspace to forcibly and arbitrarily mix and match with domestic ones ​​in a “miscellaneous” style”. In other words, it is a non-selective, offensive imitation of foreign countries.

Cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation” in cyberspace can be compared to “toxic cultural” viruses that spread and have a great impact on Vietnamese people and society. It promotes Western democratic lifestyle and bourgeois political institution. Manifestations of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”, under the trend of modern industrial society and the negative aspects of the market economy, such as pragmatism, individualism, hedonism, money worship, bad tastes, etc. are against traditional cultural values ​​and the path to socialism that our Party and people have chosen. Additionally, they also erode the core moral values​​, adversely affect the ethics and lifestyle, especially those of the youth, and result in multiple consequences in society, that make people vulnerable to the invasion of the evil foreign culture, cause a crisis of belief and disorientation in the choice of values and lifestyle, etc. Directive No.46-CT/TW issued on July 27th, 2010 by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee (10^th tenure) specifies that “Many harmful cultural products from outside have infiltrated our country by different ways, adversely affecting the thoughts, ethics, lifestyle, psychology, and behaviours of a part of the people, especially the young generation, and destroying and eroding the good moral foundation and values ​​of the nation”.

Resolutely struggling to reject the manifestations of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”

To preserve and promote the national culture, we should constantly pay attention and build good cultural values. On the other hand, it is necessary to resolutely struggle to reject the manifestations of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation” in cyberspace in the spirit of “Selectively absorbing mankind’s cultural quintessence in line with Vietnam reality and, at the same time, actively enhancing the resistance of people of all strata, especially young generations, against harmful foreign cultural products”.

In the current era of deep and profound globalisation and international integration, cultural exchange and acculturation among countries, including Vietnam, are of objective necessity, but cultural hybridisation varies country by country, depending significantly on the application of cultural management institutions in each country. Therefore, a crucial issue is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the State's management over the cultural sector in general and in cyberspace, in particular. This provides us necessary legal bases for strengthening the fight, prevention, and handling of cultural violations. Accordingly, along with thoroughly grasping and strictly implementing the resolutions, directives, and regulations of the Party and State on culture, it is advisable to accelerate the building and perfection of institutions, policies, and legal frameworks on culture and cultural management at all levels. Concurrently, obstacles must be promptly removed for the promotion of all potentials and resources and the development of national cultural identities towards modernity and integration without dissolution. It is also required to continue building and perfecting the legal system on cyber security to create an important legal basis for preventing, fighting against, and handling illegal activities in cyberspace and protecting legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals; improve the capacity to protect the national information system to contribute to ensuring sovereignty, security, and order and building a safe and healthy environment in cyberspace; and continue perfecting and synchronising the market mechanism in the cultural sector under the socialist orientation and create a favourable environment to promote investment, creation, production, distribution, and consumption of cultural products, resources, and services to preserve and promote the national cultural identities and absorb the mankind’s cultural quintessence in cyberspace.

The practice of cultural activities in each locality, field, and the whole country shows that, despite the influences of foreign cultures, if there is a better cultural environment, cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation” will be less severe, and it will be easier to fight against and prevent their manifestations, and vice versa. Therefore, to improve people's resistance against the infiltration of harmful foreign cultures, it is necessary to build a healthy socio-cultural environment. To do that, it is required to continue supplementing and perfecting the cultural value system with specific criteria and standards in each field, such as: education and training, science and technology, journalism and communication, and religion and belief and in families, schools, residential communities, agencies in the political system, businesses, social organisations, etc., to form standards of culture, ethics, and behaviours of each individual; exploiting and promoting effectively the existing cultural institutions; strictly implementing the rules of cultural and civilised behaviours on the social network environment towards “the true, the good, and the beautiful”; promoting the exemplary role of cadres, Party members, heads of agencies and organisations, and reputable people in communities in implementing ethical regulations and standards in building the cultural environment; and promoting the people's mastery role in building cultural life and stepping up the fight against harmful cultural phenomena, manifestations of cultural “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”, especially those in cyberspace in each locality, village, neighbourhood, agency, unit, and family. In the struggling process, “construction”, considered as the decisive factor, should be closely combined with “prevention”, the important one.

In the development flow of human kind, cultural interaction among nations and peoples is taken for granted. Against such backdrop, along with other solutions, it is necessary to attach importance to using the endogenous strength of the country's culture to prevent and minimise the impact of evil foreign cultures. Therefore, it is necessary to actively integrate, strengthen international cooperation and cultural exchange, absorb mankind’s cultural quintessence, and deepen international cultural relations to achieve practical effectiveness and enrich the national culture. Importance should be attached to spreading Vietnamese culture and creating favourable conditions for foreign countries, international organisations, and cultural and tourist agencies to introduce the potentials of the country, culture, and people of Vietnam to the world. In integration, it is necessary to promote the cultural bravery and intelligence of Vietnamese people in maintaining the national cultural identities; harmonise relations between culture and politics, economy, defence, security with other countries and the international community; and resolutely resist the cultural imposition and assimilation from big countries.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution’s stormy development is followed by the evolution of cyberspace and the huge cultural interaction and acculturation for all countries, including Vietnam. Therefore, to improve the effectiveness of the struggle and eliminate harmful, distorting, and reactionary products and information that adversely affect socio-political stability, fine customs, and traditions, all levels, sectors, forces, and localities should step up the application and development of information technology in parallel with ensuring information safety and network security in state management and in the performance of tasks; increase investment in research, development, and production of Vietnamese products in cyberspace to be fully capable of ensuring information safety, protecting network security, and mastering cyberspace; develop a safe, healthy, and widespread national cyberspace in association with the formation of coordination regulations and technical solutions in controlling and preventing harmful cultural products in the Internet, digital devices, mobile phones from entering our country, build regulations on coordinating with foreign technology firms, such as Google, Youtube, etc. in removing bad, toxic, and inappropriate information channels incompatible with our culture; praise and reward good and typical examples in preserving ethics, fine customs, and traditions, build cultural agencies, units, and families, and preventing, combating, eliminating, and criticising the cultural products of “xenophilia” and “hybridisation”; and promptly and strictly handle violations of organisations and individuals.

Colonel, Dr. BUI XUAN QUYNH, Political Academy, Ministry of National Defence