Authorities have fined a Facebook user who posted information about a Buddhist man’s barefoot pilgrimage across Vietnam that became a social media sensation in May.
A man whose initials are T.Đ.T. was given an administrative fine of 7.5 million dong (US$294) by authorities in southern Dong Thap province, state media reported this week.
T.Đ.T. was fined for using his Facebook account to post and share stories about Thich Minh Tue whose trek across Vietnam drew attention from influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms last month.
He’s the latest social media content producer to be fined this month by provincial Vietnamese authorities for posting about Tue, who attracted legions of supporters for his simple lifestyle and humble demeanor.
Tue, 43, practices a form of Buddhism that requires followers to own only three sets of clothes, to subsist by collecting alms house to house and to live a low-impact life in outdoor places like forests, mountains or graveyards.
As Tue walked from town to town, his travels were documented by several YouTubers who followed him and recorded his journey. Tue does not claim to be a monk but he has become a symbol for many Buddhists by drawing attention to what many people say is the lack of religious freedom in Vietnam.
In early June, police detained Tue and several of his followers during a raid in a forest in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam.
In the following days, Tue told Vietnamese broadcast media that he had retreated to a hermitage and wasn’t sure when he would resume his pilgrimage.
Others were fined
State media this week said Dong Thap authorities recently determined that T.Đ.T. had shared 44 news stories and articles from May 16 to June 17 about Tue that insulted the prestige of local officials.
T.Đ.T., 58, was accused of taking advantage of the phenomenon surrounding Tue to provide false information that defamed the government-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, state media said.
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Freedom of religion is technically enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution but Tue does not belong to a Buddhist sect that is recognized by the state. Without recognition, religious groups are not allowed to organize.
Earlier this month, the owner of the YouTube channel “15s Bình Dương” was fined for posting videos about Tue. The Department of Information and Communications in Thua Thien Hue province also demanded that YouTube remove the videos.
Also in June, a woman in central Quang Tri province was fined VND5 million (US$200) for posting and sharing information about Tue’s group while they walked across the province.
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.