The harmful consequences of rumors on social networks and civic responsibility
Recently, on social networks, there has been a situation where people have posted and shared unverified information, causing public panic and seriously affecting local security and order.
Confusion over rumors of Ban Ve hydroelectric dam collapse
At around 4:30 p.m. on July 27, news of the dam collapse of the largest hydroelectric plant in Nghe An spread to many mountainous communes in western Nghe An, causing thousands of people to panic and flee to the mountains. On many roads in communes of Tuong Duong district (old), people simultaneously fled into the streets with great anxiety.
Immediately afterwards, Mr. Ta Huu Hung - Director of Ban Ve Hydropower Company had to post on his personal Facebook, and share images of the Ban Ve Hydropower Dam still operating safely to reassure public opinion.
It is worth mentioning that the rumor of the Ban Ve hydroelectric dam breaking happened in the context of the terrible flood that had just occurred in the communes of Western Nghe An caused by the circulation of storm No. 3. After nearly a week of struggling to overcome the consequences of the flood, the people were almost "exhausted" both physically and mentally. Having to go up the mountain in the rain to take refuge when hearing the rumor of the dam breaking made the people extremely upset. Many people were even injured while moving up the mountain in the rain and wind and returning home when it was dark.
Faced with the incident that caused a great impact on society, the Director of Nghe An Provincial Police Department directed the forces to urgently verify, clarify, and strictly handle it. Immediately after that, the Internal Political Security Department, Nghe An Provincial Police Department conducted an initial review and discovered that at 5:30 p.m. on July 27, the account "LTS" live-streamed a video with the content: "Hearing the news of the hydroelectric dam breaking, people ran in panic, hoping for peace."
The Internal Political Security Department's working group coordinated with Tuong Duong Commune Police to verify and summon the Facebook account owner for questioning. Through verification, the Facebook account owner was LTS (born in 1998, residing in Yen Hoa Commune, Nghe An Province).
At the police station, S. said that at that time, he was at a relative's house in Hoa Nam block, Tuong Duong commune, and discovered that people were shouting about the hydroelectric dam breaking. Although he had not verified the information, he used his phone to broadcast live to inform everyone. After learning about the false information, S. also took the initiative to remove the post on his personal page. However, currently, Tuong Duong commune police are continuing to consolidate the case file for handling according to the provisions of the law.
For now, the Internal Political Security Department, Nghe An Provincial Police, has coordinated with the police of communes in the area to review, verify, and discover 4 Facebook accounts of local people and some individuals participating in charity activities in Tuong Duong commune, including the accounts "PHS (THHS)"; "LTT"; "H.O" and "LTS", who spread rumors about the collapse of the Ban Ve hydropower dam.
In which, pageA personal Facebook account named "PHS" is the one who live-streamed "Bê dam ae ơi" - (Bê dam anh em oi) on his Facebook page. This personal account even pressed the "highlight" button many times, causing the rumor to spread at a dizzying rate on social networks.
To fake news about kidnapping
It can be seen that, nowadays, sharing information on social networks is very easy, with just a phone and a few status lines. However, when the information is not verified, posting can become a violation of the law. Especially news related to security, order, children, public health...
On July 19, Van Kieu Commune Police (Nghe An) summoned two individuals to clarify their behavior of posting unverified information on social networks related to a child kidnapping case.
Specifically, at around 9:30 p.m. on July 18, through screening and verification, Van Kieu Commune Police determined that Ms. TT (born in 1992) and Ms. NTH (born in 2000), both residing in Van Kieu Commune, used their personal Facebook accounts "TT" and "HE" to post warnings about child kidnapping.
After working with the authorities, both T. and H. admitted that they had only heard about it and had not directly witnessed it. Both individuals realized their wrongdoings, voluntarily removed the post, wrote a correction, and pledged not to repeat the offense.
Or at 7:30 p.m. on April 7, 2025, the Dien Thinh Commune Police, Dien Chau District (old), now An Chau Commune, discovered that the Facebook account "NH (TAQ)" posted an article reflecting the phenomenon of child kidnapping occurring in the old Dien Thinh Commune, with the content: "Kidnapping has appeared right in front of my house, everyone, if you have children, be careful not to let them play or go alone, they will definitely be kidnapped". At the same time, the Facebook account "NT" also livestreamed the incident with similar content. The articles posted by these two Facebook accounts attracted many interactions and hundreds of comments expressing confusion in public opinion.
Immediately after receiving information from Dien Thinh Commune Police, the Internal Political Security Department, Nghe An Provincial Police quickly verified the accounts posting unverified information. Accordingly, it was determined that Ms. NTT (53 years old, owner of Facebook account “NT”) and Ms. NTH (31 years old, owner of account “NH (TAQ)”, both reside in Dien Thinh Commune, Dien Chau District (old). The verification results showed that the kidnapping information was false and baseless.
Immediately afterwards, based on the illegal acts of Ms. T. and Ms. H., on April 16, 2025, the Internal Political Security Department, Nghe An Police issued a decision to fine Ms. H. and Ms. T., each 7.5 million VND for providing fabricated information about the child kidnapping case, causing public confusion.
According to Point a, Clause 1, Article 101, Decree 15/2020/ND-CP, dated February 3, 2020, stipulating administrative sanctions for violations in the fields of post, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology and electronic transactions, the act of providing and sharing fake, untrue and distorted information on social networks can be subject to an administrative fine of 10 - 20 million VND. If it causes more serious consequences, such as inciting violence, disturbing security and order, the person spreading the information can also be criminally prosecuted under Article 156 or Article 288 of the Penal Code..
In fact, Nghe An police have repeatedly issued warning bulletins, emphasizing that people need to be alert and cautious, not to listen to one-sided news and then hastily post it on social networks. Every thoughtless action can cause unpredictable consequences, affecting personal reputation, honor of others and even disrupting social life. However, false rumors often spread rapidly on social networks and are very difficult to control.
In particular, many opinions say that people themselves need to be alert to information posted on social networks. Do not share information of unknown origin. In particular, when discovering suspicious information, immediately report it to the police or local authorities for inspection and handling. Absolutely do not speculate, do not follow public opinion and then help spread fake and untrue information.
