Nghe An strictly handles the act of spreading and sharing false information on social networks

Many violations were handled

Recently, on social networks, there has been a lot of untrue information circulating regarding the implementation of the policy of merging and streamlining the Party and State apparatus. Notably, there is information related to the merger of provinces and centrally-run cities.

Faced with this situation, on November 28, the Ministry of Home Affairs sent a document to the Ministry of Public Security requesting coordination and direction for cyber security agencies to review and handle the posting of the above-mentioned false information. The Ministry of Home Affairs affirmed that up to this point, the Ministry has not proposed the Government and competent authorities to merge any provincial-level administrative units.

In Nghe An, some individuals who shared false information about the merger of provinces and cities were also punished.

Typically, recently, the Internal Political Security Department (Provincial Police) issued a decision to administratively sanction 2 cases of posting false information about the arrangement and merger of provinces and cities across the country.

They are Mr. LVT (born in 1988, residing in Vinh city), a reporter and Mr. NVM (born in 1988, residing in Tan Ky town), a freelance worker.

Previously, on November 26, 2024, the NVM Facebook account posted an article with the following content:“This is the information about the province I downloaded from the internet. I don't know if it is correct.”with images said to be of 31 new administrative units based on the arrangement and separation of provinces and cities across the country. On November 28, Mr. LVT's Facebook account D.C. posted similar images with the content“Plan to merge agencies from central to local levels”.

Conducting verification, the Internal Political Security Department summoned Mr. LVT and Mr. NVM to work to clarify. Both admitted that although the information was not verified, they had posted it on their personal Facebook in order to increase interaction. Notably, Mr. NVM's Facebook account has a blue tick with more than 80,000 followers.

The actions of these two cases were determined to violate Point a, Clause 1, Article 101, Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP dated February 3, 2020 of the Government stipulating administrative sanctions for violations in postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology and electronic transactions. The Internal Political Security Department has issued a decision to impose an administrative fine of VND 5 million for each case.

According to the authorities, although propaganda work has been stepped up and the spread of fake news and untrue information on social networks and platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Viber, Wechat, Zalo... has been handled, fake news and untrue information still appear for various purposes, causing confusion among people and affecting the security and order situation in the area.

Recently, on December 11, the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security) sent a document to the Department of Cultural Heritage requesting to handle the subject spreading fake information on Facebook.

Previously, on August 14, 2024, the Facebook page "Tran Nhat Anh" posted an article with the content: "On August 9, 2024, eel porridge of Nghe An province was included in the List of National Intangible Heritage. Congratulations to my hometown", posted with a photo of Decision No. 3737 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, confirmed by the Department of Cultural Heritage to be fake.

The Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention has reviewed, inspected, verified, and warned the subject using the Facebook page "Tran Nhat Anh" is Ms. TTNA (from Thanh Chuong, Nghe An), currently living in Ho Chi Minh City.

Working with the authorities, Ms. TTNA said that the origin of the photo of Decision No. 3737 was that her husband accidentally read it and downloaded it from social media (but did not remember the original posting account). Then he sent it to her to repost to promote the sale of the family's eel porridge products. After working with the authorities, Ms. TTNA and her husband realized their wrongdoings, voluntarily removed all posts on the Facebook account "Tran Nhat Anh" and the Fanpage "Luong Xu Nghe", and pledged not to repeat the offense.

In addition to cases of posting and spreading false information due to subjective lack of verification or the purpose of attracting likes and views to gain interaction, currently, social networks are also thoroughly used by hostile forces and opportunists as a tool to sabotage the Party and the State, spreading distorted, bad, and toxic information, causing loss of trust and confusion among Party members and the people.

However, some individuals, due to lack of knowledge and poor political awareness, have posted images and information that are false, distorted, defamatory, and insulting to the reputation of individual leaders of the Party, State, and the political system.

Typically, in July 2024, Nghe An Police issued a decision to punish 3 cases of posting false information and images about the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on social networks, including: V.D.T. (born in 1988, hometown in Quynh Yen commune, Quynh Luu district); PVN (born in 1984, hometown in Thanh Khe commune, Thanh Chuong district) and BTT (born in 1981, hometown in Ma Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district).

After working with the police, the subjects removed the article; committed not to post or share false images or information that affect security, order, or cause negative public opinion.

Strengthen coordination and handlingserious

According to the authorities, any abuse of freedom of speech and freedom in cyberspace to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals or cause damage to socio-economic activities will be strictly handled according to the provisions of law.

Specifically, according to the provisions of Article 101 of Decree 15/2020/ND-CP dated February 3, 2020 of the Government, the act of providing or sharing fake information, false information, distorting, slandering, insulting the reputation of agencies, organizations, honor, dignity of individuals, or providing or sharing fabricated information, causing panic among the people, inciting violence, crimes, social evils... shall be administratively fined from 10 to 20 million VND. In addition, violators shall also be subject to remedial measures such as being forced to remove false or misleading information...

Article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) stipulates: Anyone who commits one of the following acts: making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents or items with content that distorts or defames the government or the people; making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents or items with fabricated content, causing confusion among the people... shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 5 to 12 years. If the crime is committed in particularly serious cases, the penalty shall be imprisonment from 10 to 20 years.

The act of using computer networks or telecommunications networks, electronic means to fabricate or spread information that is clearly known to be untrue, with the aim of seriously insulting the dignity, honor or causing damage to the rights and legitimate interests of others, may be prosecuted for criminal liability for the crime of slander under Article 156 of the 2015 Penal Code. The maximum penalty for offenders can be up to 7 years in prison and may be subject to additional penalties of a fine from 10 million VND to 50 million VND; prohibition from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs from 1 year to 5 years.

Recently, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has directed sectors, localities and units to mobilize resources, focus on building a people's security posture, and create a combined strength to prevent and combat the spread of fake and untrue news on cyberspace.

On November 6, 2023, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Decision No. 29 regulating statements and information provision to the press; handling information posted and broadcast in the press and information reflected on social networks of State administrative agencies in the province. It clearly states that when detecting information reflected on social networks that is incorrect or has partly incorrect content about the performance of tasks and public duties of the agency; of cadres, civil servants and public employees in the agency, unit or locality, the head of the State administrative agency shall send a document requesting the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Information and Communications to handle organizations and individuals posting and broadcasting incorrect information on social networks.

Recently, on November 25, 2024, the Department of Information and Communications of Nghe An also issued Document No. 2541/STTT-TTBCXB requesting press agencies of Nghe An province, press agencies with representative offices, and permanent reporters in the area to remind reporters and journalists to comply with the Rules for using social networks for Vietnamese journalists issued by the Vietnam Journalists Association and the Code of Conduct on social networks issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications; not to take advantage of social networks to spread and post unverified rumors, unofficial information that affects the honor of individuals and organizations; not to use information during the work process to post on social networks without the conclusion of the competent authorities.

However, in addition to controlling, restricting, preventing, and promptly removing fake, bad, toxic, and offensive information on social networks, as well as fighting, handling, and strictly punishing acts of intentionally posting fabricated and untrue information on social networks by relevant departments and branches, on the part of the people, especially officials and party members, it is necessary to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities in using social networks; respect and follow the law and social ethical standards, and verify information before posting and sharing to avoid legal consequences.