He fight against corruption in Viet Nam: The role of online press

VNU Journal of Science: Policy and Management Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2020) 19-29 
 19 
Original Article 
The Fight Against Corruption in Vietnam: 
The Role of Online Press 
Nguyen Thanh Huyen 
Doctoral student at the Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University 
647-20 Shokokuji Monzen-cho, Kamidachiuri-agaru, Karasuma, 
Kamigyo, Kyoto, Japan,602-0898 
Received 15 April 2020 
Revised 17 June 2020; Accepted 16 September 2020 
Abstract: Corruption could derail sustainable development of any country, and Vietnam is no 
exception. Vietnamese government had been taking a variety of anti-corruption policies to tackle 
corruption issues, of which empowering the role of online press has made notable progress in the 
last few years. This paper briefly reviewed the legal framework on corruption prevention and 
examined how online press takes part in curbing corruption and its influence on the fight against 
corruption in Vietnam. The results show that the online press played a significant role in curbing 
corruption by being a powerful tool for propaganda as well as an active channel to report about 
corruption in Vietnam, especially from 2016 to 2019. However, there are still many challenges to 
overcome in order to strengthen the role of online press in fighting corruption in Vietnam. 
Keywords: Vietnam, anti-corruption policy, media, online press, press freedom, corruption 
perception index. 
1. Introduction 
Since the adoption of the "open door policy" 
which transitioned Vietnam from a central 
planning to a market economy at the second half 
of the 1980s, the country was able to maintain its 
high economic growth rate and have now 
reached the threshold and reclassified as a lower-
________ 
 Corresponding author. 
 Email address: nguyen.thanh.huyen@hotmail.com 
 https://doi.org/10.25073/2588-1116/vnupam.4230 
middle-income country. However, endemic 
corruption rooted in the political landscape of the 
country possess a threat to its sustainable 
development. According to Transparency 
International, the Vietnamese Corruption 
Perception Index (CPI) score [1] stagnated at 31 
out of 100 points and ranked between 111 to 123 
out of about 160 independent states and 
N.T. Huyen / VNU Journal of Science: Policy and Management Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2020) 19-29 20 
territories from 2012 to 2015. While the 
Communist Party of Vietnam(CPV) and the 
government of Vietnam aim for achieving the 
goal of "Rich people-strong nation-equitable, 
democratic and civilized society" [2], corruption 
is still considered to be a serious obstacle which 
threatens the country’s government 
effectiveness, economic growth, and stability [3, 
p. 21]. 
After 2016, Vietnam's CPI showed an 
improvement increasing its score to 35 points in 
2017 and 37 points in 2019. The government's 
policy of strengthening its anti-corruption legal 
framework and prosecuting corrupt individuals, 
along with the contribution of the press, 
especially the online press, to the fight against 
corruption is also crucial. The online press is 
currently becoming as a new practical tool for 
holding the government accountable, as well as 
raising social awareness and a powerful 
whistleblowing channel for Vietnamese people. 
Despite its potential, the Vietnamese online 
press is still immature and face many challenges. 
Therefore, it is necessary to conduct systemic 
research to analyze the role of the online press in 
curbing corruption in Vietnam from 2016 until 
the end of 2019 and discussing the main 
dilemma of the online press when writing about 
sensitive topics such as corruption 
2. Conceptual Framework and Methodology 
2.1. Concept of online press and its role in 
curbing corruption 
By "press", this research comprises of all 
types of mass media including print media, audio 
media, visual media and online media. Online 
media encompass online personal media (such as 
email, instant messenger, blogs and photo-
sharing services) and online mass media (such as 
online broadcast, online newspapers). However, 
this research will focus more on online mass 
media than personal media since online mass 
media is considered as the official source that 
provide truthful information to the public and is 
recognized by the Vietnamese government. This 
research adopts the term "online press" to 
specify the term of online mass media. This term 
was defined in Article 3 of Vietnam Press Law 
[4] as a type of press using text, photos and 
sound transmitted online, including online 
newspapers and online magazines. On the other 
hand, traditional press refers to the non-internet 
using press including television, radio, and 
printed newspapers. 
In comparison with the traditional press, the 
online press possesses many technological 
strong points. According to Opgenhaffen (2011) 
[5], the online press is advantageous in three 
mains aspects: (i) automatio ... formation of 
the printed press. However, taking advantage of 
technology and the faster transmission of 
information, journalists posted parts of their 
investigations many times a day before 
publishing a full version on the printed press. For 
instance, the news on corruption scandals related 
to the National High-school Examination of 
Vietnam were posted twice a day in the online 
version of Tuoi Tre newspaper before the release 
of the daily printed version. Presently, news is 
updated faster and were immediately shared by 
people via their social networking sites (SNS) 
such as Facebook and Instagram. 
To summarize, Vietnam online press had 
passed through three broad stages of 
development in the field of fighting against 
corruption namely 1) the beginning of online 
press; 2) the development of technology; and 3) 
the boom of online corruption-related news. 
Until the end of 2019, the online press has 
become a valuable information source as a part 
of many Vietnamese's daily life especially those 
living in the urban areas. The online press also 
proved to be a practical channel to whistle blow 
the corrupt activities and to expose information 
related to corruption scandals. 
3.3. Factors favorable for the development of 
online press in the field of anti-corruption 
activism 
In order to determine the factors affecting the 
participation of the online press in anti-
corruption activism, similar questions were 
asked to 22 journalists participated in the survey 
conducted by the author in the August 2019. 
Four main factors emerged based on the 
responses: (i) the development of technology, 
(ii) changes in reading habits of Vietnamese 
people, (iii) change in Press Law, and (iv) 
changes in the government's policy. 
Table 2. Factors contributing to the 
development of the online press in curbing 
corruption 
 Question: Please rate the influence of each factor 
from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important) 
Point 1 2 3 4 5 
Development of 
technology 
6% 18% 6% 24% 41% 
Changes in 
reading habits 
6% 6% 24% 35% 29% 
Changes in the 
Press Law 
18% 6% 41% 29% 12% 
Changes in the 
government’s 
policy 
6% 24% 29% 24% 18% 
Source: Author’s survey conducted in 2018 
3.3.1. The development of technology and 
changes in reading habits of Vietnamese people 
The evolution of the internet and technology 
in Vietnam is considered to be very important as 
answered by 41% of the respondents, followed 
by the change in the reading habits of 
Vietnamese people. 
From the beginning of the official 
availability of Internet services in the country in 
December 1997 until the end of 2019, Vietnam 
has seen drastic growth of internet users over the 
years. The rapid development of internet access 
and internet speed created a new multi-
dimension platform for journalistic activities 
providing more freedom compared to the 
traditional way (Smolarczyk et al. 2015, pp. 7-8 
[14]). At present, government agencies 
dominantly own the majority of the traditional 
press. For example, the owner of Tuoi Tre 
newspapers and Tien Phong newspapers (both 
printed version and online version) is the Ho Chi 
Minh Communist Youth Union, which is the 
largest social-political organization of the 
Vietnamese youth under the leadership of the 
CPV. This kind of ownership resulted in a 
primary function of the press to support the party 
and the government. Nonetheless, with 
technological advancement, the FPT 
Corporation, which is considered as the most 
significant information technology service 
N.T. Huyen / VNU Journal of Science: Policy and Management Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2020) 19-29 27 
company in Vietnam, created its own online 
newspapers, the VnExpress online newspaper in 
2001. The establishment of the first privately 
owned online newspaper opened a new page in 
the history of Vietnam's online press and 
encouraged the freedom of the press across the 
country. 
On the other hand, technological 
advancement changed Vietnamese people’s way 
of obtaining new information for many reasons. 
First, a printed press is slower than an online 
press releasing news out to the public. In fact, the 
online newspapers' platform allows journalists to 
release news immediately anytime instead of one 
time a day (in the case of daily newspaper) or 
one time a month (in the case of monthly 
newspaper).Second, the diversity of information 
sources available anytime and anywhere created 
a more comprehensive image to readers which 
satisfied their curiosity more. Instead of going 
out to buy one or a few newspapers, one can 
access dozens of both domestic and international 
online presses quickly by using search engines. 
These merits shifted the reading habits of 
Vietnamese people in favor of searching for 
news online. According to the sociological 
surveys on social networking sites usage habits 
of Vietnamese people conducted by 
Vinaresearch in 2018 [15], "reading news" is the 
second important reason to access to SNS, 
accounting to 25% of responses which is only 
1% less than the most important one. The faster 
transmission speed, the more curious readers 
want to reach as quickly and as much 
information as possible. This phenomenon, in 
turn, pushes the journalists to produce more 
news in a shorter amount of time, leading to a 
boom in the number of newspapers and articles 
on corruption scandals from 2017 to 2019. 
3.3.2. Changes in legal framework and 
government’s policy 
The new Press Law enacted from 1 January 
2017 created a new favorable legal framework to 
journalism activities. Forty-one percent of 
journalists who participated in the author’s 
survey, agree that this is an essential factor 
which nurtures the development of the online 
press, especially in the field of anti-corruption 
activism. As mentioned in section 3.2.3, the new 
Press Law eliminated the chapter on state 
management, while adding a new Article on the 
freedom of citizens to create and access to the 
press (Article 10), followed by the Article on the 
responsibility of the State for citizens’ rights to 
freedom of the press and freedom of speech in 
the press (Article 13). In fact, Article 12 of the 
Law specified the right of contributing opinions, 
criticisms, recommendations, express 
complaints and denunciations to CPV’s 
organizations, and state agencies. Especially, 
Article 13 stated that the press should not be 
censored before printing, transmitting and 
broadcasting. On the other hand, the Article 38 
of the law requires agencies, organizations, and 
responsible persons to provide information to the 
press. Moreover, Article 38allows the press 
agencies and journalists the right and obligation 
to not disclose knowledge about informers and 
states the responsibility of the authorities to 
protect whistleblowers and to provide 
information to the press. This Article plays a 
vital role in helping journalists to protect 
whistleblowers and their source of information. 
In essence, the new Press Law presents a legal 
corridor for press activities in the field of anti-
corruption. 
In this context, the implementation of a "no-
go zone" anti-corruption campaign along with 
opening up government data and information 
created a more diverse data pool which 
encouraged journalism activities. In reality, the 
role of the press in curbing corruption was 
brought up in documents of CPV at very early 
stages of the fight against corruption. 
Accurately, the Political report of the 7th Central 
Committee in the 8th National Congress of CVP 
(held in 1996) mentioned the need to enhance the 
role of media institutions [16, p.692]. In the 
conclusion of the National Conference on Anti-
corruption (organized on May 5, 2014), CVP’s 
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong specified 
the press as a powerful and effective tool in 
exposing corrupt actions and preventing 
corruption [17, p.47]. However, at this point, the 
N.T. Huyen / VNU Journal of Science: Policy and Management Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2020) 19-29 28 
overseeing role of the press was not to be central. 
In 2018, the policy of publicizing information 
about legal entities prosecuted on corruption 
charges was introduced in the speech of the 
General Secretary at the National Conference on 
Anti-Corruption, which took place on June 25. 
In the same speech, The General Secretary also 
stated clearly the policy of proactively unfold the 
inspection reports, the investigation results, and 
relevant information about sensitive topics [17, 
p.112. These changes illustrate the political 
determination of the Vietnamese government to 
increase transparency in Party and state 
activities, underlying the overseeing role of the 
press. 
Furthermore, on November 8, 2018, the 
Prime Minister approved the “National 
Information Development Strategy which runs 
until 2025 with a vision to 2030”. This strategy 
encourages commercialization or privatization 
of the press in Vietnam, which can result in the 
improvement of the quality and ability to provide 
information to the public. As a result, the press 
becomes more critical towards the government, 
especially regarding corruption and red tape in 
government institutions in 2019. 
4. Conclusion Remarks and Discussions 
One of the traditional remedies to promote 
the role of the press in curbing corruption is 
promoting media advocacy. In Vietnam, the 
online press is emerging as a new practical 
stakeholder in the fight against corruption, 
especially from 2016. Whether as a propaganda 
tool, an investigator or an oversight of the trial 
on corrupt scandals, the contribution of online 
press is undeniable. From the first online press 
establishment in 1997 until the end of 2019, the 
online press has passed through a three-stage 
development. The impressive growth made 
during the last four years were the results of the 
increasing penetration of the internet system, 
changes in reading habits of people, 
determination of the state, and positive changes 
in the Press Law. Many cases have been solved 
thanks to investigation of journalists such as the 
corruption scandals at Petrovietnam 
Construction Joint Stock Corporation, and 
corruption scandals involving the National High-
school Examination. In particular, along with 
technical advantages namely the ability to 
rapidly spread information and raise public 
attention in a shorter time, the online press has 
more freedom than the printed press making it 
more critical and effective in holding the 
government accountable. 
However, the high-speed data transmission 
infrastructure urged journalists to post news as 
fast as possible. The journalists, then, ought to 
face the conflict between "journalism ethics" and 
"the freshness of information”. In fact, in the 
survey conducted by the author, 80% of 
respondents indicated concerns about inaccurate 
and inadequate quality articles. Meanwhile, 40% 
of respondents criticize some of the online press 
due to snatching the title view and posting 
misleading news. These problems are causing 
the decrease of public trust in the online press 
and are discouraging journalists who proactively 
participated in the investigation. Hence, further 
research might be necessary to find out practical 
remedies to achieve sustainable development. 
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