The information was disclosed by Puangpet after her meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung to gain an insight into its anti-fake news initiatives. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 16th Conference of the ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) and the 7th AMRI Plus Three Conference  in the central city of Da Nang, Vietnam, from September 22-23.

She praised Vietnam for setting up a committee to fight fake news on social media. According to Puangpet, combatting fake news is one of the main items before the AMRI meeting, adding Thailand also supports the Guidelines on Management of Government Information in Combatting Fake News and Disinformation in the media, as endorsed in the 16th AMRI meeting.

The two ministers agreed that journalistic ethics are key to ensuring news reliability. She also urged more information sharing between the two countries as well as among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Earlier, Deputy Director-General of the Public Relations Department (PRD) of Thailand, Sudruetai Lertkasem, represented the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office at the 20th Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials Responsible for Information (SOMRI) as SOMRI Chair, who will be passing the duty of chairmanship onto Vietnam.

During its tenure, Thailand strengthened the theme “Digital Community and Accessibility for All” to ease the intense situation caused by COVID-19 and other challenges. However, she said, tough situations have brought together the media and information sectors, particularly the SOMRI working group, which has played an active role in strengthening media and digital literacy, countering fake news, and reducing the gap for vulnerable groups to overcome the pandemic.

Sudruetai said she believed that under Vietnam’s Chairmanship, all ASEAN member states will continue their close cooperation in promoting greater ASEAN readiness for the digital age as well as media and information literacy in the region./.VNA