Vietnam regulators to continue probe into TikTok over harmful content

Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) will continue to inspect TikTok’s activities in the country this month following infringements found in May.

Vietnamese regulators launched an inspection of the cross-border social network’s operations in Vietnam in the middle of May, targeting “toxic” content after reports on TikTok users arbitrarily using private and personal images to spread fake news, smears, and insults.

The MIC plans to announce the findings in July, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam told the ministry’s monthly press briefing in Hanoi on Monday. He stressed that Vietnamese regulators were following up on leads to identify TikTok’s violations.

The deputy minister underlined that his ministry and relevant authorities are taking measures to curb infringements via cross-border social networks like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.

According to the ministry, advertising pornographic clips and gambling applications via the platforms has become rampant. There have multiple reports of clips featuring “online gangsters” on YouTube, and advertisements for gambling websites.

Lam told the press briefing that his ministry had sent social platforms messages regarding content management.

From April 15 to May 15, at the MIC’s request, Facebook blocked and removed 399 posts containing false information and anti-state content, equal to 91% of those requested. Google removed 1,901 videos of similar content on YouTube (94% of the requests), and TikTok blocked and removed 51 links (98% of the requests), according to the MIC.

The ministry will strictly handle violations on the social platforms to ensure a clean cyberspace environment, Le Quang Tu Do, head of the country’s Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI), told a cyberspace conference in Hanoi on May 27.

He said the investigation into TikTok starting in mid-May, led by his agency, targeted “toxic” content. Do noted that TikTok will be prohibited in Vietnam if it continues to be uncooperative with the government, while other cross-border social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook will face bans if they do not observe Vietnamese laws.