Vietnam needs to create its own social network and search engine to replace Facebook and Google, said Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung at a recent information technology (IT) industry conference."The time has come for us to build a new social network and a new, more humane search engine, which focuses more on users and brings them more values," Hung stressed.
He said the world needs a new approach to social networking, adding that social networks reap benefits from the contents generated by users so the latter should be involved in the platform’s rule-making and be protected.
The social network reflects reality, so basic moral values must be respected in using social media. Besides, the foreign social platforms must comply with the host country’s legal framework, the minister explained.
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According to the minister, a search engine gives out millions of results, but those results must be reliable, especially for people who do not have knowledge related to their searches.
Hung noted that shortcomings in the operations of Facebook and Google open up space for new social networks and search engines. Therefore, local IT businesses and startups have a great opportunity to develop a new ecosystem, philosophy and business model for not only Vietnam but also the wider world.
He revealed that his ministry is drafting a set of community standards for local IT enterprises to create home-grown social networks that must fulfill three criteria: sharing value with users, allowing users to make contributions and acting within national laws.
The Ministry of Information and Communications would support businesses by issuing a policy for sandboxes so that businesses could securely test new technological models in a controlled and secure environment, Hung promised.
Director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Information Technology Park under the Vietnam National University Nguyen Anh Thi agreed with the ministry’s proposal for policies to foster the sandbox mechanism.
The ministry should have a development program to promote technology startups to help Vietnam become a regional and global center for technological talents, Thi suggested.
Meanwhile, some delegates requested the state’s support in certifying the national businesses’ credibility when reaching the world market, awarding them public technological consulting contracts, attracting talent and connecting educational institutions with businesses.
According to Statista, a Germany-based statistics company, the number of Facebook users in Vietnam is expected to reach 45.3 million in 2019, up from 41.1 million in 2017. Vietnam is ranked seventh among the countries with the largest population of Facebook users.
