Will remove offending TV apps from TV interface and controls

May 7, 2023 20:52

The Ministry of Information and Communications will require five major TV manufacturers to stop integrating or remove illegal TV viewing applications on the TV screen and control interface.


Currently, there are applications integrated into buttons on smart TV remotes that do not fully comply with Vietnamese law. (Illustration: Internet)

In recent years, the trend of watching TV content on smart TVs through TV applications of Internet TV service providers has become increasingly popular.

With the feature of customizing the operating system interface, smart TVs often have a number of TV viewing applications pre-installed on the home screen interface. This helps to enhance the experience, towards optimizing the enjoyment needs, allowing TV viewers to easily access content according to personal requirements.

However, according to the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), many TV viewing applications pre-installed on the home screen interface and applications integrated into buttons on smart TV remotes are applications that do not fully comply with, and even violate, Vietnamese law.

On these applications, there is a lot of bad, toxic content that is not suitable for Vietnamese culture, causing negative impacts on the audience of Vietnamese children and teenagers.

Meanwhile, on smart TVs, to click on a domestic TV channel, regular users have to use two remote controls; if using only one remote control, TV viewers have to go through many steps to click. This is considered to have a major impact on TV viewers’ access to mainstream media content.


Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam shared with the press at the May press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communications. (Photo: Le Anh Dung)

Speaking at the May press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam said that the Ministry of Information and Communications is fully aware of the above situation. In the first week of May, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information met with the two largest TV manufacturers in Vietnam, Samsung and LG, and will continue to work with three other major manufacturers.

Through working with major TV manufacturers, the Ministry of Information and Communications will require them to consult with state management agencies on radio, television and press before integrating any buttons on the TV remote. If any button directs users and viewers to illegal viewing applications, the Ministry of Information and Communications will request that the integration be stopped, that content be removed, and that application not be installed on the smart TV platform.

“On the contrary, TV manufacturers also need to install applications related to mainstream media, creating conditions for viewers to access by integrating hard keys in upcoming TV versions to easily and conveniently watch TV, radio, and newspapers in Vietnam,” said Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam.

In addition, the Ministry of Information and Communications is currently coordinating with two key press agencies, Vietnam Television (VTV) and Voice of Vietnam (VOV), to build and perfect national digital television and radio platforms.

In particular, the VTVgo platform has been upgraded, no longer just a digital television application of VTV but has become a digital platform of television in Vietnam.

Since January 19, VTVgo has fully integrated 7 essential national TV channels and is currently integrating local TV channels on it at a very fast speed. In the near future, we will have a single digital platform for TV.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Information and Communications also sent a document to businesses importing, manufacturing, and distributing smart TVs in Vietnam to guide these units to grasp and have a plan to comply with the new regulations of Decree 71 of 2022 on the management, provision, and use of radio and television services.

Specifically, the Ministry of Information and Communications has asked businesses to review the legality of TV viewing applications that are pre-installed on the home screen of products or integrated into buttons on remote controls to ensure that they do not violate Vietnamese law.

At the same time, the Ministry of Information and Communications has also requested that TV manufacturing enterprises have a plan to be ready to install on the home screen and integrate a button to access the national digital TV viewing application on smart TVs when the competent authority officially approves and announces it.

According to Vietnamnet

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Will remove offending TV apps from TV interface and controls