Strictly handle cases of spreading fake news and untruths about mergers and streamlining of apparatus.

Many cases of false reporting were discovered.

Streamlining the organization and apparatus of the political system is a correct policy of the Party and State that is being implemented drastically and synchronously, contributing to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of management, optimizing resources, and promoting socio-economic development.

This is also a topic that has received great attention from many people. However, currently on social networking platforms (Zalo, Facebook, TikTok), there is a lot of information and articles spreading that are "putting the cart before the horse", untrue, and unverified, related to the content of the merger. Many cases have been called and warned by the authorities.

Typically, in March 2025, the Internal Political Security Department (Nghe An Provincial Police) issued a decision to administratively sanction 1 case of posting false information about the policy of merging provinces and cities.

Accordingly, the police force discovered that the Facebook account “MI Xue Hung Nguyen” posted the article “OFFICIALLY - THIS MORNING THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS AGREEMENT AFTER A PERIOD OF CONSULTATION - ON THE MERGER OF PROVINCES AND CITIES: SPECIFICALLY AS FOLLOWS! From 63 provinces and cities to 31 provinces and cities”.

Through verification, the owner of the above Facebook account is Mr. NVK (44 years old, residing in Hung Nguyen), who sells ice cream and soft drinks in the area. His personal Facebook account has more than 4.9 thousand friends.

The Internal Political Security Department summoned Mr. K. to work to clarify the act of posting fabricated and untrue information about the merger of provincial administrative units.

At the police station, Mr. K. admitted that on February 25, 2025, after reading information about the policy of merging provinces and cities on social networks, Mr. K. copied and posted it on his personal Facebook page. After posting, some people commented that the content was inaccurate, so Mr. K. removed the post.

Mr. K. realized that this was a violation of the law, posting false information causing public confusion and pledged not to repeat the offense. The Department of Internal Political Security, Nghe An Police issued a decision to administratively fine Mr. K. for the act of "Providing and sharing fabricated information, causing public confusion" with a fine of 5 million VND.

Previously, in December 2024, there were also 2 cases of posting false information about the arrangement and merger of provinces and cities across the country that were administratively punished: 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.

Specifically, on November 26, 2024, the Facebook account NVM posted an article with the content: "This is the information about the province that 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. also posted similar images with the content "Plan to merge agencies from the central to local levels".

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

The actions of these two cases violated 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 Department of Internal Political Security of Nghe An Police has issued a decision to impose an administrative fine of 5 million VND on each case.

Posting false and unverified information about the policy of merging and streamlining the apparatus causes public confusion, not only violating the law but also greatly affecting political stability, security and order in the area.

Impersonating reputable individuals and organizations

To guide public opinion, some cases even cut and edit to impersonate mainstream press websites or personal pages of famous people to post and spread false information.

Recently, the Internal Political Security Department (Nghe An Police) discovered that the TikTok account "PTC" posted fake information images that were said to be the speech of National Assembly delegate Truong Trong Nghia, National Assembly Delegation of Ho Chi Minh City.

The speech addressed the unfairness of wages in different professions. After being posted, the article attracted more than 11,100 likes and nearly 4,000 comments.

The police force determined that this was a fake, untrue act that affected and offended the image, honor, and reputation of individual National Assembly deputies, creating conflicting and complicated public opinions, and causing loss of security and order.

At the police station, the owner of the TikTok account “PTC”, Mr. HTB (41 years old, residing in Vinh city), stated that after listening to news, he saw the image of National Assembly delegate Truong Trong Nghia at the National Assembly Hall, so he took the image of this delegate, edited the content himself and inserted it to make readers believe that this was the statement of this delegate and posted it on social networks. Mr. B. said that this was done to create a forum and debate on social networks to increase interaction for his personal account, serving sales.

Through the investigation, Mr. B. realized that his behavior was a violation of the law. On March 25, 2025, the Internal Political Security Department issued a decision to administratively fine Mr. HTB 7.5 million VND for providing and sharing fake information, false information, distorting, slandering, and insulting the reputation of agencies, organizations, and the honor and dignity of individuals.

Mr. B. also removed the post on his personal account and pledged to strictly comply with legal regulations on posting information on social networks.

Previously, on March 14, 2025, on some closed groups of the social network Zalo, a photo was circulated containing the logo of Nghe An Newspaper, the image of the link and the title of the article of Nghe An Electronic Newspaper "Expected to reduce about 50% of provincial-level administrative units after the arrangement". Along with that, the photo inserted content about the expected merger of communes in Nghe An.

Nghe An Newspaper has warned and confirmed that this is a photo collage, a fake of the Newspaper's article. Nghe An Newspaper has also sent a document to the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department; Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Nghe An Police to request measures to handle this situation...

Faced with the above situation, the authorities recommend: Any act of posting, sharing, or spreading false information will be strictly handled according to the provisions of the law.

Currently, sanctions for acts of providing false information on cyberspace have been stipulated in Article 8 of the 2015 Law on Network Information Security and Article 9 of the 2018 Law on Network Security.

Depending on the nature and severity, the person committing the crime may be subject to one, two or more sanctions for a violation.

For the act of making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents and items with distorted, fabricated content, causing confusion among the People with the aim of opposing the State, criminal liability may be prosecuted for "Crime of making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" according to the provisions of Article 117 of the Penal Code.