Press freedom is one of the fundamental human rights that Vietnam has committed to and seriously implemented in accordance with the general principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, hostile forces, reactionaries, and political dissidents consistently distort this reality to sabotage our Party, State, and socialist regime.
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| Journalistic work at a major event (photo: nhandan.vn) |
Keeping repeating same old rhetoric
As usual, on World Press Freedom Day (3 May) this year, Reporters sans frontiers, also known as RSF, published the so-called “2024 World Press Freedom Index”, ranking Vietnam 174th out of 180 countries. This ranking was accompanied by numerous comments, such as “Vietnam remains the worst for press freedom” and “Vietnam is among the world's top ten jailers of journalists”, etc.
Taking advantage of the situation, several websites and social media pages of reactionary and anti-Vietnam organisations began posting articles and news distorting the state of press freedom in Vietnam. They disseminated claims, such as: “Why is Vietnam always at the bottom of global press freedom rankings?”, and “The one-party system means no press freedom”, asserting that the press in Vietnam is “controlled”, “censored”, and “harshly regulated” by the Party and State. These claims aim to distort the Party and State's legitimate leadership and management over the press in Vietnam. Ultimately, the purpose of these allegations is to eliminate the Party's leadership role and call for a change in the political system of our country. To bolster the reactionary and opportunistic political rhetoric, several Western media outlets with pre-existing biases against Vietnam, such as BBC, RFI, RFA, and VOA, have echoed these distortions, misinterpreting and misrepresenting the state of press freedom in Vietnam. Consequently, they have intensified activities promoting so-called “press freedom” and “civil society” with politically reactionary objectives.
However, it is noteworthy that all the so-called “assessments and evaluations” are based on distorted, biased, subjective and “repetitive” fabrications about the state of press freedom in Vietnam by RSF over the past years. Both RSF and the aforementioned websites and social media pages deliberately ignore the vibrant reality of freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Vietnam, which is evident in all areas of social life and in the practical activities of journalists and press agencies.
RSF itself is a “half-baked” organisation with political overtones. Although it claims to protect global journalism through scientific methods, “defend press freedom worldwide, combat censorship, and support imprisoned journalists” based on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, RSF frequently engages in biased and distorted narratives about freedom of the press and freedom of speech in various countries contradicting the principles of the United Nations and its own stated mission.
To boost its credibility, RSF openly defends offenders under the guise of journalism, who have been prosecuted and sentenced by their respective countries. It politicises and internationalises issues of press freedom in Vietnam, aiming to undermine the country's prestige and to call for international intervention in Vietnam's internal affairs. Those offenders include Phạm Đoan Trang, Phạm Chí Dũng, Nguyễn Lân Thắng, and Lê Trọng Hùng, to name but a few.
Ironically, some of these “independent journalists”, as RSF calls them, have never worked in journalism or received any formal press training. They have easily achieved recognition from RSF by merely writing anti-government posts on social media. Those examples clearly expose the true nature of RSF, which is always exploiting the so-called “right to freedom of the press” to sabotage Vietnam.
Undeniable achievements of press freedom in Vietnam
That Vietnam consistently respects and protects the right to freedom of speech and press freedom is an undeniable fact. Legally, shortly after the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Article 10 of the first Constitution, passed by the National Assembly on 9 November 1946, clearly states: “Vietnamese citizens have rights to: freedom of speech; freedom of the press; freedom of assembly and association; freedom of belief and religion; freedom of residence and movement within the country and of departure for foreign countries”. These fundamental rights have been enshrined in subsequent Vietnamese constitutions, with their implementation prescribed by law.
The Press Law (2016) affirms: “The press in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an essential means of information for social life; is the mouthpiece of the Party and State's agencies, of political-social organisations, of occupational organisations; is the forum of the people”. According to the Law, citizens are entitled to create journalistic works, to provide information for the press, to access the press information; press agencies are responsible for ensuring citizens enjoy their freedom of the press as prescribed by law. Press agencies and journalists operate within the framework of the law and are protected by the State, without prior censorship before printing, transmitting, or broadcasting. They are provided with the best conditions for professional activities, and no one has the right to obstruct journalists from collecting and disseminating information in accordance with the law. Therefore, the press in Vietnam has continuously developed and made significant contributions to the nation-building and defence efforts.
Reality has proven that the Vietnamese press consistently fulfils its functions and tasks of disseminating the Party's guidelines and viewpoints, the State's policies and laws to the people. It always closely follows and accurately reflects all aspects of social life, and provides profound insights. It properly guides public opinion at the right time and actively fights falsehoods, wrongdoings as well as hostile propaganda. The press also serves as a platform for highly critical discourse, a bridge to convey the desire of the people, and a tool to protect the legitimate rights and benefits of the people.
According to data from the Ministry of Information and Communications, by January 2024, there had been 127 newspaper agencies, 671 magazine agencies, and 72 radio and television stations nationwide, most of which have been or are being transformed into multimedia communication agencies, appearing on the Internet with various forms, such as mobile journalism, social media journalism, and artificial intelligence journalism. These platforms are highly interactive, meeting the media needs of all social strata at anytime and anywhere. By December 2023, there had been approximately 41,000 personnel working in the field of journalism, up to 20,508 individuals were issued with press cards for the period of 2021-2025, 7,587 of whom hold a bachelor's degree or higher in journalism. International cooperation in the field of journalism is also thriving with nearly 40 international media agencies operating in Vietnam, enjoying favourable conditions without any technological or legal barriers in reaching the public. These include major media agencies such as CNN, Reuters, TV5, AP, AFP, Kyodo, Asia News Agency (South Korea), Rossiya Segodnya News Agency (Russia), Bloomberg, among others. While international journalists are provided with favourable conditions by the Vietnamese government to operate, many mechanisms and policies are put in place to allow Vietnamese journalists to study and work abroad. This reality completely refutes any claims that the situation of press freedom in Vietnam is deteriorating.
However, it is worth mentioning that in every field, in every country, there can be no unlimited, ungoverned freedom that stands outside the law. Therefore, freedom of the press in any country must always be within the framework of that country's laws. Both international laws and national laws affirm that freedom of the press is not an absolute right, but must be subject to certain restrictions to protect the common interests of society, the state, and the people. For example, Article 18 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany states: “Whoever abuses the freedom of expression, in particular the freedom of the press,… in order to combat the free democratic basic order shall forfeit these basic rights”; 18 U.S. Code § 2385 strictly prohibits: “Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so”. Therefore, no one can claim to be a so - called “free journalist” and stand outside the law. It is inevitable that journalists or those impersonating journalists like Phạm Đoan Trang, Phạm Chí Dũng, Nguyễn Lân Thắng, and Lê Trọng Hùng, were duly punished for violating Vietnam's laws, and there is no arbitrary detention of journalists in Vietnam as RSF falsely alleges.
The dissemination of misinformation, hostility, and distortion regarding press freedom in Vietnam is extremely dangerous as it creates a biased and negative perception of Vietnam among the international community, affecting the country's ability to attract investment, tourism, and overall development. Therefore, identifying, refuting, and combating false and distorted information about press freedom requires the involvement of the entire political system, in which journalists are core forces. To fulfil this responsibility, first and foremost, journalists should possess strong political determination, continuously enhance their professional skills, and regularly cultivate and practise professional ethics in their work. Secondly, it is necessary to promote enthusiastic spirit, social responsibility, and professional pride to closely follow the realities of life, to pioneer, and to properly guide public opinion. Thirdly, they should enhance their intellect to identify the truth, exercise an iron will in the face of difficulties and challenges, steadfastly defend righteousness, and promptly and resolutely foil evil plots by hostile forces, reactionaries, and political dissidents, thereby, contributing to the firm protection of the Party’s ideological foundation. Fourthly, it is important for them to be imbued with perspectives, intelligence, and pride of Vietnam's revolutionary press to actively integrate into the world, to absorb the achievements of the world, and to develop advanced forms and methods of communications to meet the ever-growing information needs of the people, thus making Vietnam's revolutionary press professional, humane, and modern.
Accomplishing these tasks will be a crucial contribution to refuting all distorted narratives regarding press freedom in Vietnam from hostile forces.
Sr. Col. DO PHU THO