On the evening of November 23, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (Ministry of Information and Communications) coordinated with VnExpress Newspaper to organize the program Tinternet - Raising awareness of internet users in Vietnam. The program is part of the "Trust" Campaign with the message "Trust online, trust correctly".

The “News” campaign is held from September to November with the aim of providing basic information and skills so that Internet users can recognize, detect, and prevent fake news and harmful information online.

After 2 months, the “Believe” Campaign received great attention from press agencies, media and the public, helping the public gain more understanding and raise awareness in preventing and limiting fake news and false news on the Internet. The program’s official website also attracted nearly 50,000 visits within 1 month.

1 vnn 1843.jpg

Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information Le Quang Tu Do.

The Anti Fake News content creation contest within the campaign attracted more than 50 entries, earning more than 130 million views after nearly 1 month of implementation. In addition to the contest videos, there were more than 100 videos reporting on the program, with the number of views reaching nearly 280 million.

In particular, the Anti Fake News message has been responded to by many content creators through hashtagging their posts. As of November 20, there were nearly 1.5 million videos with the Anti Fake News hashtag on the TikTok platform, reaching more than 5 billion views.

Speaking at the program, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information Le Quang Tu Do shared that when the Department launched this campaign, he was "very nervous" because he did not know how the online community would receive it. This is the first time the Ministry of Information and Communications has deployed a concentrated online activity, with the topic of "fake news" that everyone encounters. After 2 months of implementation, he expressed his joy at the positive response of the online community, hot tiktokers, famous content creators, and press agencies.

Mr. Le Quang Tu Do said that in 1 month after launching the campaign, there were more than 50 entries with more than 130 million views, and up to 1.5 million videos with the hashtag "Anti Fake News" with about 5 billion views. This is an impressive number showing the solidarity with state management agencies to fight against fake information online.

1 vnn 1849.jpg

He expressed his hope that young people, students, and pupils would join the Ministry of Information and Communications in the "battle against fake news" because this is the generation of internet users who build internet culture.

The Director said that in 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications will continue to organize activities to raise user awareness, improve network culture and hopes to receive the response of tiktokers, content creators, press agencies and universities.

At the program, Miss World Vietnam 2019 Luong Thuy Linh, Ambassador of the program, shared that one of the scariest things during the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak is fake news.

In 2022, a study by a team of authors from the University of Oxford, published by UNICEF, found that 76% of adolescents encountered fake news from online sources at least once a week. This was a 50% increase from two years earlier.

Miss Luong Thuy Linh said: "This shows that the more technology develops, the more we are exposed to fake news... Artists are often victims of fake news, false news. Fake news will have a negative impact on artists' careers, worse, their mental health."

1 vnn 1857.jpg

76% of teens face fake news.

“A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its shoes on,” she quoted a saying to show the power of fake news. While 100,000 people can access fake news, only 1,000 people can access real news.

According to Miss Luong Thuy Linh, fake news spreads easily because it is new, has content that deals with hot issues that many people are interested in; often has sensational and attractive titles, making an immediate impression on readers.

She shares how to check fake news, including: Source and author; information in the article and other reputable sources.

Nguyen Ba Diep, co-founder of MoMo, believes that fake news is among the world's top risks. According to a 2019 study by the University of Baltimore, the total cost of damage from this problem is $78 billion for the US market, 70% of which affects stock prices. With the development of technology, there is too much news and we only read the headlines, rarely considering the content carefully.

The trend of fake news is also increasing in the financial world. According to him, this is partly due to individual cognitive biases. Therefore, bad actors take advantage of human psychology to create fake news.

He cited the fire in a mini apartment building in Hanoi, where the online community spread rumors that the fire was caused by an electric car, but that was not the truth.

To minimize damage, he encourages young people to ask questions before clicking any interaction with online news: Is it believable; is it harmful to anyone; is it being manipulated by someone. These questions clarify three factors: authenticity, legitimacy, and initiative.

Vietnamnet.vn