Photo collage, fabricated news "thousands of people protested in Nghe An on June 16"

In recent days, taking advantage of the National Assembly's consultation on the draft law on special administrative units and the passing of the law on cyber security, some bad elements have used fanpages to incite and attract extremists to protest, riot, sabotage, and disrupt security and order at several locations in Nghe An province on the morning of Saturday, June 16, 2018.

In fact, on June 16, 2018, the security and order situation in Nghe An province was still stable, all activities were still taking place normally.

On June 16, 2018, Cua Lo Town welcomed thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to relax.

However, on the evening of June 16, 2018, on some websites, some bad guys edited and re-edited old images and clips (mainly images of the incident of taking advantage of the so-called "environmental protection" to cause disorder in some areas in Dien Chau and Quynh Luu, which took place in early 2017) and then re-broadcast them on the websites, fabricating and spreading rumors that "Thousands of people protested in Nghe An on June 16th, the latest".

A video clip edited together old images and posted on the fabricated youtube channel "Thousands of people protested in Nghe An"

The act of fabricating information and distorting the truth to cause confusion among the public is a violation of the law and must be stopped promptly. Those who spread fabricated information and distort the truth must be severely punished for deterrence and education.

Penalties for spreading false rumors

Administrative sanctions:If false information contains slander or insults the reputation of an organization or the honor and dignity of an individual, the act of spreading false information or fabricating information is strictly prohibited according to the provisions of Point c, Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree 97/2008/ND-CP.

According to Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree 28/2009/ND-CP and Point b, Clause 5, Article 6 of Decree 63/2007/ND-CP, the act of "providing, exchanging, transmitting or storing, using digital information to distort, slander, or insult the reputation of an organization, or the honor, dignity, or reputation of another person" can be fined from 10 to 20 million VND.

According to Article 37 of the Civil Code, the honor, dignity and reputation of an individual are respected and protected by law. Therefore, if anyone spreads false rumors that infringe upon the honor, dignity and reputation of a specific organization or individual, that organization or individual has the right to file a lawsuit in court to request the person spreading the rumors to apologize, make a public correction and compensate for damages.

Criminal proceedings:Depending on the case, people who spread false rumors can be handled as follows:

- If the person spreading the false rumor is accurately identified and the rumor is slanderous in nature, according to Article 122 of the Penal Code, the offender can be imprisoned from 3 months to 7 years for the crime of Slander. In addition, the offender can be fined from 1 million VND to 10 million VND, banned from holding a position, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs from 1 to 5 years.

- If the person spreading the false rumor cannot be identified but only the person spreading the information can be identified, the provisions of Article 226 of the Penal Code shall apply. Specifically, anyone who commits the act of "posting information on a computer network, telecommunications network, or the internet that is contrary to the provisions of law, if not falling under one of the cases specified in Article 88 and Article 253 of this Code" violating social order and security, causing serious consequences, may be imprisoned from 6 months to 7 years. In addition, the offender may be fined from 20 million to 200 million VND, banned from holding a position, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs.

In addition to the above general provisions, depending on each field, people who spread false rumors may be handled separately according to the provisions of law in that field. For example, people who "fabricate, spread, or report untrue information about the market situation, prices of goods and services, causing panic in society and market instability" may be punished according to Article 18 of Decree 84/2011/ND-CP on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of prices; people who "propagandize, distort, or defame the people's government" may be prosecuted for criminal responsibility for the crime of Propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.