Vietnamese students volunteer to help Japanese police fight crime

Many Vietnamese students are helping Japanese police identify content related to illegal activities on social networks in an initiative being applied in Saitama province.

Vietnamese students volunteer to support Japanese police's "cyber patrol" activities

ASAHI SHIMBUN SCREENSHOT

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on December 1 that many Vietnamese students are volunteering to work with police in Saitama Prefecture (Japan) to identify criminal content posted on social networking sites and using slang to avoid attracting attention.

According to law enforcement agencies, the initiative is the first of its kind in Japan. The program has resulted in more than 100 posts being flagged, many of which have since been taken down.

"I want to help reduce crime through this activity," said a member named VTHien in the Foreign Residents' Cybersecurity Volunteers (FRCV) group.

During breaks at Tokyo Nichigo Academy in Saitama, Hien and LTNa, both 19, often do this volunteer work. They search for keywords commonly used in illegal activities on Facebook groups commonly used by many Vietnamese people in Japan.

According to police, many social media posts use slang or abbreviations to bypass Japanese authorities. Some posts use the word "buy" instead of "buy", while others use "blx" instead of "driver's license".

There are about 40,000 Vietnamese people living in Saitama and this is the second largest foreign community here after the Chinese community.

Police have found several people exchanging information on social media about selling bank accounts, drug deals and illegal jobs. Police say internet acronyms and slang make it difficult for Japanese translators to detect criminal posts.

For that reason, they recruited network patrol helpers from language schools and vocational schools in the province where Vietnamese people study. About 20 Vietnamese-speaking students and staff from 3 organizations joined FRCV.

During a yearlong trial that began last July, police issued warnings for 97 posts, resulting in 75 of them being removed or suspended. Police said they could arrest people who posted offending content.

Saitama police also said they are considering expanding the initiative to other social networks and languages ​​other than Vietnamese.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/du-hoc-sinh-viet-tinh-nguyen-giup-canh-sat-nhat-doi-pho-toi-pham-185241201201610476.htm