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Social networks and battle against toxic bloggers and self-claimed journalists (Part II and End)

4/3/17

An uncompromising struggle
 Yet we are unlikely to prevail in this battle if we treat the problem of fake news as a creature of the internet—or, for that matter, as a problem unto itself. Fake news is part of a larger problem of “click journalism”: media that focuses on getting online click-throughs, or on “clicking” with our pre-conceived bias.
In Vietnam, there are many click journalists now who self-claim themselves as journalists or reporters but without any legitimate license. On behalf of pro- human rights and democracy, these so-called journalists have posted many distorted articles that go against the country’s policies and interests, and they have been punished strictly.
There are many more cases such as:
- Last year, in March, the People’s Court of Hanoi sentenced blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy to five and three years in prison each for blogging against the state. An appeals court upheld the sentences in September; In October, police in the central province of Khanh Hoa arrested Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh for publishing posts and videos designed to denigrate the government and the Communist Party on a blog and Facebook page "Mẹ Nấm" (Mother Mushroom) she had run since 2012; In November last year, Hồ Văn Hải, who is known by his Facebook name “Ho Hai”, was also arrested for distributing documents and information designed to undermine the state from a house in Ho Chi Minh City.
On December 16th, the Investigation Agency under the Thanh Hoa Provincial Police decided to prosecute the criminal case and immediately arrested Nguyễn Danh Dũng (aged 29, residing at No.9, Phuong Dinh 3 St., Tao Xuyen ward, Thanh Hoa city) on charge of “abusing civil democratic freedom to undermine the State interests,” under Article 25 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. At the Investigation Office, Dũng admitted his offence, confessing  that, in October 2015, Dung created and started to run a Youtube account called Thien An TV, Facebook page “Thien An” and Blog tinhhinhdatnuocvietnam.blogspot.com to upload his home-made videos and false information about the State of Vietnam, and State and Party leaders. In doing so, Dung often collected images of Vietnamese Party and State leaders from the Internet and made changes to the images before compiling them into video clips labeled with Thien An logo. Initial investigation results show, more than 700 video clips that feature distorted, false and fake information about the Party and State and the country’s leaders have been uploaded by Dung on social networks.
- And, early this year, on January 11, the police of Ha Tinh province arrested Nguyễn Văn Hóa, who had took advantage against the Formosa Steel Company for causing an environmental disaster in April 2016, abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to infringe upon the interests of the State, under article 258 of the penal code; On January 19, 2017, the police of Nghe An province arrested a former political prisoner, Nguyen Văn Oai, for allegedly violating his probation. He had been arrested in August 2011, for alleged involvement with the outlawed overseas political party Viet Tan and sentenced to four years in prison. After completing his sentence in August 2015, he was placed on probation for another four years.
Recently, on January 21, 2017, Trần Thị Nga (also known as Thuy Nga), 40, was arrested and charged with conducting propaganda against the state under article 88 of the penal code. Nga, who lived in Ha Nam province, accessed the Internet to post a number of video clips and articles to propagandize against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
At this point, the Investigation Agency continues investing these cases to find out any involved elements. These cases once again demonstrate that the Government of Vietnam always fights distorted-information crimes in a serious and resolute manner, to ensure national security. These are also warnings for those who try to carry out propaganda campaigns against the State and Party of Vietnam.
Journalism, especially now social networks, has established itself as a venue for people from all walks of life to express their aspirations and give suggestions on national-building and the process of safeguarding the country. Press are asked to raise a high sense of responsibility in disseminating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws. The Vietnam revolutionary press has relentlessly developed, significantly contributing to the struggle for the national independence and the cause of national construction and defence. It’s hoped that press would continue to play key role in building and protecting the country against toxic propaganda./.
Chia sẻ bài viết ^^
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All comments [ 5 ]


For A Peace World 4/3/17 22:57

Press agencies and workers should thoroughly grasp and communicate the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress, the Party’s guidelines and State’s policies and laws.

Socialist Society 4/3/17 23:03

Journalists responsible for “blogs must be seriously punished for causing chaos and instability.

Red Star 4/3/17 23:25

Dan Lam Bao (the People Report) and Quan Lam Bao (Senior Officials Working as Journalists) and many toxic websites like that have slandered the country's leadership, fabricated and distorted information, agitated against the party and the state, and caused suspicion and mistrust in society.

yobro yobro 4/3/17 23:29

Urge need to monitor these poisonous blogs and websites!

LawrenceSamuels 4/3/17 23:32

People need to be aware of these fake news and create a shield for them to struggle against these toxic things.

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