Facebook provides incorrect map of sovereignty over Hoang Sa - Truong Sa
On the map used to support advertisers, Facebook shows that the two archipelagos of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa of Vietnam belong to China.
Marketing groups in Vietnam are buzzing about Facebook merging Vietnam's Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos into Chinese territory on the map integrated into this social network.
Specifically, in the section for selecting the location of the advertising target, when the user enters the name "China", Facebook will circle and display the territorial location of this country by color.
At this time, the two archipelagos Hoang Sa and Truong Sa are also displayed by Facebook in the same color (blue) as China.
The press contacted Ms. Le Diep Kieu Trang, Director of Facebook Vietnam, but she did not have an answer about the incident. Another source said that this issue was reported to Facebook's policy team.
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| When selecting the audience location in the ad settings, Facebook groups users in Vietnam's Hoang Sa and Truong Sa into Chinese territory. |
Facebook's use of a misleading map about sovereignty is causing a stir in advertising and marketing groups.
When choosing to advertise in Vietnam, those two archipelagos do not appear. But when clicking to select ads targeting Chinese users, Facebook also lists Truong Sa - Hoang Sa.
Not only that, in the map section showing the density of livestream users, this map displays the words "Sansha" (Tam Sa), the way China calls Hoang Sa - Truong Sa of Vietnam.
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| Facebook's livestream density map blatantly calls Vietnam's Hoang Sa - Truong Sa area Sansha (Tam Sa). |
Master Hoang Viet, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, said that China is illegally occupying the Hoang Sa archipelago, so Facebook cannot use the name Tam Sa to refer to this location.
"As for Truong Sa, this archipelago has just been recognized by the world court as a submerged reef. Therefore, China's claim of sovereignty here is not recognized," Mr. Viet said.
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| Another map implicitly recognizes Vietnam's Hoang Sa and Truong Sa as belonging to China by displaying them in orange outlines. |
In 2015, Google also caused controversy when it used the name Tam Sa on Google Maps.
Google later made a change, marking the entire Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam by its international name, Paracel. Searching for "Sansha" (Sansha) as it is called in China is no longer valid.
The so-called "Sansha City" was established by China in July 2012 to implement its plan to control the East Sea, including Vietnam's Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos and the Scarborough Shoal disputed with the Philippines.
