Vietnamese lawmakers discuss bill on information security

While discussing a law bill on information security, Vietnamese lawmakers agreed here on Monday the importance of completing legal framework to solve cyber attacks, spreading of spam, malicious codes, and protect national security on the internet among others.

Speaking at the 37th session of the Vietnam's National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee which opened in capital Hanoi on Monday, Nguyen Bac Son, Minister of Information and Communications said individuals and organizations are facing many types of cyber attacks with more and more frequencies.

"The building of the law aims at completing a stable legal foundation on information safety to meet with demands of socio- economic development, national defense, security among others," Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA quoted Son as saying on Monday.

According to Truong Thi Mai, chairwoman of the NA Social Affairs Committee, in 2014, hundreds of online information abuses occurred but they could not be handled well due to lack of legal basis.

"When the law is completed, the question is whether we can handle cyber attacks originating from foreign countries," said Mai, adding that nowadays, there are many websites that cannot be deleted as they are rooted in foreign countries.

Meanwhile, Phung Quoc Hien, head of NA Finance and Budget Committee proposed to rename the bill into a more suitable one, such as "Law on Cyber Information Safety".

"Information insecurity can be separated into three levels: cyber information violations, cyber information conflicts and cyber wars," Hien suggested.

Commenting on the bill, NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said "it is rights of people to access information. Regulations must not affect or violate human rights and social order."

While individuals, organizations cannot be banned from spreading distorting news, the country should provide correct information for local people to get clear understanding, said Hung. Endi