Is it possible to pursue criminal charges?

WHY ARE TIKTOKERS NOT AFRAID TO VIOLATE OR RE-VIOLATE RULES?

Recently, the case of Pham Duc Tuan (No O No) sparked outrage from the public after he made a video comparing the leader to Le Tuan Khang. Following the incident, this TikToker was fined 30 million VND and had his channel blocked by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications. This is not the first time No O No has been penalized. Two years ago, he also had his channel blocked and was fined 7.5 million VND for providing and sharing information that was inappropriate and contrary to the national customs and traditions.

A series of harmful, deviant, and attention-seeking trends on the TikTok platform have sparked public outrage.

Currently, many TikTokers earn huge sums of money from promoting products and brands for companies, affiliate marketing, and self-employment. The more views/followers a channel has, the more money it earns. For this reason, many have resorted to unscrupulous methods to build channels, create harmful trends, and produce offensive and inappropriate content. Lawyer Tran Minh Hung (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) analyzed: "These hot TikTokers have enormous incomes, so the current administrative penalties are not heavy enough and are insignificant compared to the amount of money they earn. Therefore, they may make the decision to take risks."

Furthermore, another factor contributing to the repeated violations by TikTokers is the leniency of some social media users. Nờ Ô Nô has had his channel blocked three times, but each time, he didn't put in much effort to "start over." This is also why many content creators disregard ethical practices, simply apologizing for mistakes, going into hiding for a while, and then returning. This has led many to express concern about the increasing tolerance of offensive content among social media users. Le Anh Tu, a lecturer in the Public Relations and Communication Department at Van Lang University (Ho Chi Minh City), stated: "The decision to boycott or continue following these TikTokers is the right of social media users. It's difficult to heavily criticize them because it depends on the level of public awareness. As long as there are followers, TikTokers will continue to create channels."

TikToker Nờ Ô Nô has been fined twice by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications for producing clips containing "obscene" content to gain views.

ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS SHOULD BE APPLIED

From the above analysis, it can be seen that increasing penalties could be an effective solution to curb content creators who disregard the law. "In my opinion, the fines should be increased, 3-4 times higher than the current fines. Furthermore, if they re-offend, the penalties should be even harsher. The law needs to be amended to increase sanctions, possibly applying additional penalties. Besides monetary fines, authorities could consider other forms of punishment such as permanent account bans, professional bans, or community service for a certain period to be truly deterrent," suggested lawyer Tran Minh Hung.

Regarding the question of whether criminal prosecution should be applied to TikTokers who intentionally repeat offenses, lawyer Hung stated that criminal liability is the highest level of punishment and should only be considered when it is truly necessary to prosecute individuals who show no remorse, intentionally act for the purpose or motive of opposition or social disruption, or whose consequences are deemed serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution. Therefore, to assess the misconduct of TikTokers, authorities will base their decision on the content posted, the nature and impact of the incident, the actual consequences, and the personal background of the offender.

Mr. Hung added: "According to Clause 1, Article 7 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations, if one year has passed since the completion of the administrative penalty decision and there is no re-offending, it is considered as if no administrative violation has been penalized. Therefore, the current administrative penalties imposed by the authorities are appropriate. However, if violations continue, criminal prosecution of the channel owners is justified when sufficient evidence and circumstances are present."

Besides imposing strict penalties, lawyer Hung believes that authorities also need to implement stricter management measures for social media platforms. Currently, TikTok's developers have focused on controlling, censoring, and preventing harmful and offensive information that violates community standards and Vietnamese laws. However, in reality, harmful and offensive information still proliferates and even becomes trending. "It's time for authorities to tighten management of social media platforms even further. If TikTok does not cooperate or authorize a legal entity in Vietnam to manage and monitor its content, then authorities should consider whether or not to allow TikTok to continue operating in our country," the lawyer emphasized.

WE NEED TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM.

Dealing with content creators or controlling social media platforms only addresses the symptoms; the root of the problem lies in the awareness of social media users themselves. Le Anh Tu, a lecturer in the Public Relations and Communication Department at Van Lang University (Ho Chi Minh City), believes that it's necessary to guide and educate users, especially young people, on social media awareness. "In my opinion, we need measures that are gradual and persistent, not something that can be changed overnight. Schools and families will play a crucial role in this process. When social media users are selective about content, focusing on standard, positive, and humane information, then 'dirty' information and negative content will gradually be eliminated. From there, the social media environment will also be purified," Mr. Tu said.

According to Master's degree holder Le Anh Tu, a content creator who is too conventional may sometimes be perceived as bland and unappealing. However, if they disregard ethical content to gain views, the consequences can be unpredictable. Instead, content creators should build their own unique identity based on their strengths to achieve lasting popularity. "These strengths could come from topics like travel, beauty, language learning, research software, guiding people in practicing sports skills, cooking, self-care... which are both in line with trends and beneficial to the community, contributing to raising social awareness and spreading positive values," Mr. Tu shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tiktoker-cau-view-bat-chap-vi-pham-phap-luat-lieu-co-the-xu-ly-hinh-su-185241215194806175.htm