Major General Dinh Van Noi, Director of Quang Ninh Police is well known for   uncompromising fights against criminals for which he is beloved and respected.

On February 4, Quang Ninh Police discovered that TikTok account “T.T.010280” posted and distributed a video containing false information related to a speech by Noi when he was An Giang Province’s Police Director.

Soon after the discovery, the Department of Cyber ​​Security and Hi-tech Crime Prevention joined forces with Hanoi Police and discovered that the owner of the account was T.M.T, born in 1976, residing in Nam Hong commune in Dong Anh district in Hanoi.

At the investigation agency, T admitted he used the TikTok account to post and distribute the video with false information related to Noi’s speech, which led to negative responses.

Further investigations found that the account had also posted other articles with unverified content related to leaders of the Party and the State.

The Department of Cyber ​​Security and Hi-tech Crime Prevention asked T to remove all the posts with malicious content and commit not to repeat the offense, and transferred the case to the Hanoi Police for handling.

Commenting about the case, Quang Ninh Police leaders said the misrepresentation not only affected the feelings of the misrepresented individuals and their relatives and colleagues, but also caused viewers to misunderstand the nature of the problems. It would have been more dangerous if the misrepresentation was also political.

In August 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic became very complicated, the Vietnam Anti Fake News Centre (VAFC) found many Facebook accounts sharing and disseminating content thought to be statements by Vu Duc Dam, who was then Deputy PM, about Covid-19 prevention and control.

After the verification, VAFC affirmed that the content was false.

Also in August 2021, a man named Tran Khoa, who was thought to be an obstetrician, posted a story about giving up a ventilator to a pregnant woman.

The story was then shared by many people, stirring up the public at a time when the pandemic was serious and ventilators were in shortage at medical facilities.

Later, VAFC affirmed that the information was false. The photo of the twins shared on social media was edited from an old image taken at Tu Du Hospital by a Facebooker named Cao Huu Thinh and posted on July 21.

Most recently, there have been many false news items about the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

As a reporter in Quang Tri, T.L. has never forgotten what happened at a session of the province’s People’s Council to elect the province’s chair in June 2020.

TL had posted a photo of the Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Hung at the ballot box. The photo was re-used by Truong Chau Huu Danh, who re-posted it with unreasonable captions such as "in order to get the results as wanted, Party Secretary Nguyen Van Hung stands at the ballot box to watch the voting", or "Nguyen Van Hung is the great ballot checker".

The image of Nguyen Van Hung, who was then Quang Tri province’s Party Committee Secretary, and now Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, showed him turning round and smiling after voting. This was then spread on the internet in association with illogical comments.

One year later, in September 2021, Truong Chau Huu Danh and the group ‘Bao sach’ (clean newspaper) were arrested on charges for "taking advantage of democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals" as stipulated in Article 331 of the Penal Code.

A first-instance trial took place on October 26, 2021 about the case of Truong Chau Huu Danh and his accomplices. Danh expressed regret for writing and posting false information on social networks, including the case above.

30 percent truth, 70 percent lie

Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information Le Quang Tu Do said malicious information online has doubled in volume recently.

The sources of the information are from reactionary overseas organizations and individuals who use three major platforms – Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. In many cases, in order to spread information more quickly, they use livestreams as well. 

30 percent truth and 70 percent fabrication are the ‘formula’ hostile forces use to produce malicious news to spread in cyberspace. The subjects use the images showing the activities of high-ranking officials broadcasted on TV and reported on official newspapers, cut, graft, paste and fabricate fake stories to create new false contents.

In general, there are three most common tricks used by the subjects.

First, using real names such as Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Revolutionary Party), RFA, Thoibao.de

Second, using impersonated accounts, i.e. creating the accounts with the names of high-ranking leaders or agencies.

Third, creating the accounts with the names similar to the names of press agencies, or institutions.

Do said the Ministry of Information and Communications has asked cross-border service providers such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to block and remove tens of thousands of violated contents.

N. Huyen - Quang Thanh - Tien Dung