Notably, in Chapter IV of the draft law, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposes that each year, local authorities at the grassroots level are responsible for organizing at least once a dialogue conference with the people in person, online or through social networks to discuss the situation of local government operations and issues related to the rights and obligations of citizens.
This is a breakthrough policy, aiming to streamline the organization of the administrative apparatus, increase transparency and promote directness between the grassroots government and the people.
The popular interaction of grassroots authorities on social networking platforms allows people to send opinions, feedback, and comments, in just a few steps.
These contents can be monitored, stored and transferred to a higher competent authority if necessary. Instead of having to go through many levels like before, people can now meet the government right on their smartphones.
This not only saves effort and costs, but also creates a sense of closeness, encouraging the community's proactive participation in local governance.
"Telling a story" through social networks is also a way for commune and ward officials to grasp the people's aspirations, know what people are looking forward to, how difficult they are facing... as the recent continuous instructions of General Secretary To Lam.
However, this policy will face many challenges regarding "digitalization gaps" and the implementation capacity of grassroots staff.
In big cities, the rate of internet or smartphone users is very high, but for people in rural, mountainous areas, even freelance workers in urban areas, accessing devices and connecting to the network stably still faces many difficulties.
The second challenge lies in transparency and accountability in the digital environment.
Although dialogues via social networks can be saved in the form of posts, comments, and messages, if there is no strict data management process, there can still be information floating, missed comments, or slow processing.
On the other hand, when the district level is abolished, a large amount of work will become the task of the commune and ward levels. If the staff at this level lacks capacity, while the digital infrastructure is not yet complete, the process of resolving opinions will become overloaded.
Abolishing the district level and expanding the dialogue channel, allowing people to "talk" with local authorities through social networks is a breakthrough in line with the context of digital transformation.
However, to maximize the benefits of this model, it is necessary to clearly identify challenges from digital distance, ensure technology infrastructure, staff capacity and responsibility mechanisms to soon have solutions.
By doing so, social networks are truly a new channel to help people have the opportunity to participate and contribute to the political and social life of their locality.
