Netflix removes TV series with images violating Vietnam’s sovereignty

The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications said on July 1 that Netflix, Inc., an Internet subscription service for watching television shows and movies, on June 30 had removed Pine Gap, a six-part TV series which have images infringing on Vietnam’s sovereignty over the sea and islands.

The department on June 25 discovered the wrongful representation of Vietnam’s sovereignty in episodes of the TV series released on the digital movie platform in Vietnam.

Specifically, the image of a map with the illegal nine-dash line in the East Sea appeared in the second and third episodes of the series.

The appearance of false information about Vietnam's sovereignty in the above episodes of Netflix seriously violated Vietnamese law. Clauses 3 and 4 in Article 9 of the Press Law along with Clause 4 in Article 11 of the Cinematography Law prohibit the provision of information that incites war, infringes upon Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, distorts history, negates revolutionary achievements, or offends the nation and national heroes of Vietnam.

The department immediately sent a document to Netflix requesting it to comply with Vietnamese law when broadcasting television services in the country.

This is the third time over the past 12 months that Netflix has been found to stream movies and TV shows with content that violates Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty when providing services to users in the country.

Earlier, a Chinese series "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" and American series "Madam Secretary" both had showed China's nine-dash line violating Vietnam's sovereignty, and the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information had immediately issued documents requiring Netflix to remove these movies./.