Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam chaired the conference.

Enterprises join hands to support the Ministry of Information and Communications

The conference was held with the aim of assessing the current status of online advertising activities in Vietnam and discussing solutions that need to be focused on in the coming time with the participation of representatives of domestic and foreign brands, trademarks, advertising enterprises and representatives of a number of relevant ministries, branches and associations.

At the Conference, information about the results of more than a year of implementing solutions to rectify advertising activities on cyberspace, especially the Whitelist solution set - verified content recommended for advertising and Blacklist - bad, toxic content, violating the law requiring no advertising, Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (PTTH&TTĐT) said: In the past time, large advertising enterprises have focused on using Blacklist, proactively building and Blacklist recommended by the Ministry of Information and Communications. Enterprises, advertising agencies and brands have also supported the Ministry of Information and Communications in not cooperating with KOLs and celebrities who have violated the law.

Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, spoke at the conference.

In addition, advertising agencies have also cooperated with the Ministry of Information and Communications, directly the Department of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, to fight against cross-border platforms, requiring these platforms to ensure safety for brands and advertisers if they want to operate in Vietnam, and must strengthen filters and technical measures so that businesses can feel secure when advertising on the platform.

Thanks to that, in 2023, YouTube blocked and removed 25 channels with reactionary and toxic content, 5 times more than in 2022. The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information has punished 10 businesses and warned 15 businesses providing advertising services for violations. Also in 2023, a Whitelist of recommendations for advertising activities was built and announced, and to date there are about 4,000 pages and channels of newspapers, social networks and general electronic news sites.

Mr. Le Quang Tu Do added that at the Conference to meet the community of online content creators in May 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications sent out the message "Creating clean content will receive advertising and advertising will find clean content". However, so far this message has not been put into practice, the Whitelist has not been as effective as expected, most businesses do not use this list even though the Ministry of Information and Communications has recommended it many times.

The reason for the above situation is said to be: Enterprises and units are subjective, chasing profits, tend to advertise widely on electronic information pages (websites, channels, personal accounts) that violate and are of poor quality. Although enterprises and units are conscious of using and updating the list of exclusions from displaying advertisements in violating positions (Blacklist), they cannot ensure that they can review and build a complete Blacklist because it depends on the specific nature of the content on the internet and social networks that is posted and changes every minute.

Should expand not only Whitelist but also Blacklist

Speaking at the Conference, emphasizing the common goal of ensuring healthy online content and changes for better online advertising activities, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam hopes that businesses and advertising units are "insiders" who contribute ideas, propose appropriate and effective methods and approaches, demonstrating responsibility to the advertising industry and society.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam: The Blacklist needs to be expanded to include content shared online that is not prohibited but is not in line with values, ethics, or standards.

Suggesting a plan for units and businesses to join hands to build a common code of conduct for the online advertising industry, the Deputy Minister also said that not only the Whitelist but also the Blacklist should be expanded. In addition, the Departments of Information and Communications in the coming time need to work with the Ministry and advertising service businesses to expand the Blacklist and Whitelist. In particular, the Blacklist needs to be expanded to include content shared online that is not prohibited but is not in line with values, ethics, and standards.

The Deputy Minister emphasized: In order to protect the safety of brands, towards building a healthy, safe advertising business environment, with fair competition between domestic and foreign enterprises, the Ministry of Information and Communications will continue to implement solutions to ensure the implementation of the goal: Support and prioritize advertising on Vietnamese digital media platforms in particular and platforms that comply with the provisions of Vietnamese law in general. The Ministry of Information and Communications will coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to strengthen inspection, examination and handling of violations of online advertising activities. Cross-border advertising enterprises that do not comply with Vietnamese law will not be facilitated to operate in Vietnam.

The Deputy Minister requested the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information to consider the expansion of the Whitelist an important task, but also to clearly inform that the Whitelist is a recommended list, a list that state management agencies coordinate with units and associations to issue at a certain time.

The Deputy Minister also called on domestic companies that are advertising for foreign countries to use technology to quickly authenticate Whitelist channels, and to recognize Whitelist channels using technology to push advertising quickly and at the best price./

Duc Huy - Ministry of Information and Communications Website