Fake Fanpages impersonating local authorities are rampant.

Exploiting local names for personal gain and to cause confusion.

Currently, on major social media platforms, simply typing "Nghe An" will bring up numerous Fanpages with names like "Nghe An N...", "H.Nghe An", "B.Nghe An", "NT24h", "NA37"... updating all kinds of content, from everyday life to sensational, clickbait news.

With names that are identical or similar to those of news agencies, many people mistakenly believe these are official websites of news agencies or provincial online portals. However, most of these sites are created by individuals or groups of people and are not licensed to operate as news outlets. Some sites intentionally borrow local names to create credibility and easily attract followers, thereby earning money from advertising or posting disguised advertisements.

In Thanh Hoa, the case of two administrators of the pages "Beat 36 Thanh Hoa" and "Hong Thanh Hoa" being detained by the police for posting false information on October 17, 2025, is a typical example. According to the investigating agency, on the afternoon of October 11, 2025, a member of the flood relief team from Dak Lak province livestreamed on social media, claiming that the owner of a car with license plate 36A-349... demanded 100 million VND in compensation from the team after a traffic accident. This clip quickly spread, attracting public attention.

From the aforementioned video clip, Le Dang D. (born in 1992), residing in Thieu Giao commune, Thanh Hoa province, and Nguyen Van Kh. (born in 2001), residing in Yen Xuan commune, Nghe An province, were identified. The administrator of the pages “Beat 36 Thanh Hoa”, “Beat Thanh Hoa”, and “Hong 36 Thanh Hoa” failed to verify information and repeatedly posted articles alleging that the car owner “pressured” the charity group, inflating repair costs to embezzle 100 million VND. When the car owner responded, Nguyen Van Kh. even used defiant language and insulted the owner's honor and reputation.

The purpose of the two individuals mentioned above was determined to be intentionally posting false information to exploit public attention, increase interaction and views, and thereby enhance the value of their fan page to receive advertising. Using the name "Thanh Hoa" for the fan page misled the online community and created a negative perception of the people of Thanh Hoa. This is extremely dangerous in the social media environment, causing regional and local discrimination and harming national unity.

In reality, in Nghe An province, many social media pages publish misleading and distorted information, using ambiguous and sensational language, causing public misunderstanding and confusion. Recently, many pages have even exploited simple traffic accidents, even when the parties have reached a settlement, deliberately posting inflammatory content to create conflicting opinions, and even "ganging up" on those involved to gain interaction and cause outrage in the online community.

These pages all share the common characteristic of using the name "locality" to exploit people's trust. When people see the name "Nghe An" displayed on the fan page, they easily mistake it for an official channel. Only when the authorities issue a correction do users realize they have been "following the wrong" personal page.

Strengthening legal measures to crack down on fake local accounts.

According to our research, on November 9, 2024, the Government issued Decree 147/2024/ND-CP on the management, provision, and use of Internet services and online information (effective from December 25, 2024). Accordingly, Clause 1, Article 26, regarding domain names and website names for general information websites and domestic social networks, states that: For agencies, organizations, and businesses that are not press agencies, the domain name or website name must not be similar to or identical to the name of a press agency or contain words (in Vietnamese or equivalent foreign languages) that could cause confusion with press agencies or journalistic activities such as: Newspaper, radio, magazine, news, news, broadcast, television, media, news agency, news agency.

However, in reality, many individuals circumvent regulations by using social media platforms instead of registering domain names, making it difficult for authorities to control. This leads to a situation where, although domain names are strictly regulated, social media account names are largely left unregulated. This reality allows many individuals to brazenly use local names or place names for their personal pages or fan pages, causing confusion with official information pages. This confusion not only misleads recipients but also seriously affects the reputation and image of the locality. When negative or false information spreads, many people easily mistake it for information published by "local media."

To completely eliminate the problem of "misusing local information," it is clear that a comprehensive approach involving multiple solutions is needed, ranging from improving the legal framework to raising awareness among social media users.

Accordingly, the regulatory authorities need to expand the scope of Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP to include social media pages and accounts bearing the names of localities, agencies, and organizations, instead of just domain names. This will create a solid basis for handling fake fanpages and channels that cause confusion or post false information.

At the same time, it is necessary to require social media management units to have mechanisms to verify and label information channels belonging to press agencies and government as "official pages". In the long term, it is mandatory to build a national database of official accounts, ensuring that each locality should only have a few verified official pages. When people search for a locality name on social media, only verified channels representing that locality should be displayed. This will both help control information and protect users from harmful and toxic content.

During the discussion, an official from the Information, Press, and Publishing Department of the Nghe An Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism acknowledged that some fan pages currently use local names and place names. In the near future, the department will provide feedback to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to ensure stricter regulation and management of this content.

However, many argue that, above all, users themselves must be the last line of defense. Each individual needs to be absolutely vigilant in identifying fake pages, and should not hastily believe, like, follow, or share information from pages of unknown origin. When discovering misleading content, they should immediately report it to the platform or relevant authorities to protect themselves and a healthy information environment for the entire community.