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Two Vietnamese social media users face unspecified punishment after police pulled them in for questioning for posts they said insulted the police and government agencies, according to state media.
The Binh Phuoc newspaper, the mouthpiece of authorities in Binh Phuoc province, said on Thursday that the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department of the provincial police had filed a case against a 74-year-old they identified as MXV.
Police said the person used three accounts on Facebook and TikTok to spread slanderous content about government agencies and individuals. The newspaper didn’t name the people or organizations said to have been insulted.
Meanwhile, the Nguoi Dua Tin website of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, reported that on Dec. 28, Loc Ninh district police interviewed a person, identified as LNHT, who they accused of insulting the reputation of agencies and organizations using the Facebook account “Tram Le (Tit).”
They said the person wrote insulting posts after the police fined them for not wearing a motorcycle helmet.
The police made the person write a letter promising not to re-offend and prepared a case against them, the media association said.
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Police often summon people who post content critical of the government and its leaders on social media, considering such acts to be illegal.
Violators are often penalized under the Law on Cyber Security, Decree 15/2020/ND-CP, and face fines of about US$300.
People are also likely to be charged with violating Articles 117 and 331 of the criminal code for “conducting propaganda against the state” and “abusing democratic freedoms.” This can lead to courts imposing prison sentences of between two and 20 years.
It is not clear whether the two people questioned by Binh Phuoc police will be punished under the criminal code or the cyber security law.
Radio Free Asia called the police to ask about the two cases but the reporter was only able to confirm that the information about LNHT was correct. The person who answered the phone declined to provide any further information.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.