Vietnam supports, guarantees press freedom: says spokesperson

“We completely reject untruthful, non-objective content with bad prejudices that the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) gives about the situation in Vietnam,” spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told media workers at the Foreign Ministry’s regular press briefing in Hanoi.

The Committee to Protect Journalists recently released a report saying press freedom in Vietnam is under tighter state control.

“Vietnam has always supported and ensured the exercise of press freedom, which is specified in the 2013 Constitution and many related legal documents,” said Hang. “Such press freedom is clearly demonstrated through the strong development of the Vietnamese press in recent years.”

According to the spokesperson, by the end of 2019, Vietnam had 868 press agencies and 125 television channels. Mobile networks now cover 99.7% of the country’s inhabited area with 98% of the population accessible to 3G and 4G networks.

In addition, more than 64 million Vietnamese people are currently using the Internet and more than 62 million people are using social networks.

Like in other law-governed states globally, everyone in Vietnam is equal before the law and anyone who violates the law must be tried according to the law, stressed the spokesperson.