On October 5, 2023, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) held a press conference to provide information on the activities of the Ministry and the MIC sector in September 2023 and the plan to implement the key tasks of the Ministry in the coming time. In which, the Ministry informed the press agencies about the results of a comprehensive inspection of TikTok's operations in Vietnam.
Allowing many contents to violate Vietnamese law
In order to strengthen management, promptly detect, rectify and handle violations of this platform, from May 22, 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications will coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to conduct a comprehensive inspection of TikTok's operations in Vietnam. Inspect the TikTok Pte. Ltd Representative Office in Ho Chi Minh City (TikTok Office) and TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited (TikTok Vietnam Company).
Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information Le Quang Tu Do informed about the results of a comprehensive inspection of TikTok Vietnam. Photo: TH
Units inspect compliance with regulations on the provision of social networking services to users in Vietnam; Compliance with regulations on advertising; Protection of copyright and related rights; Compliance with regulations related to the provision of e-commerce services and the performance of tax obligations.
Based on the Inspection Team's Inspection Results Report, on September 29, 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications issued Inspection Conclusion No. 08/KL-BTTTT on the comprehensive inspection of TikTok's operations in Vietnam. The announcement clearly stated that TikTok Office and TikTok Vietnam Company do not directly participate in the management and provision of cross-border services into Vietnam through the TikTok.com website and TikTok application. The provision of cross-border services into Vietnam is directly managed and operated by TikTok Pte.Ltd (TikTok Singapore).
As for the e-commerce trading floor service, because TikTok Office carries out the registration procedure to establish a "Commercial Trading Floor" through the TikTok application under the authorization of TikTok Singapore, according to the regulations on e-commerce, TikTok Office must be jointly responsible for violations in providing this service according to the provisions of Vietnamese law.
TikTok Singapore is the entity responsible for complying with Vietnamese law in providing cross-border services to Vietnam. The inspection team has identified a number of violations by TikTok Singapore in providing cross-border services to Vietnam, including prominent violations. Including storing information that violates Vietnamese law on CDN servers in Vietnam. Specifically: Fake, distorted information, inciting violence, inciting social evils; information harmful to children...
The content censorship process is not effective, allowing many contents that violate Vietnamese law to pass through. The way of distributing and recommending content based on user interactions, preferences, and interests can easily lead to content that violates Vietnamese law spreading quickly if many users interact and are interested.
There are no measures or tools to ensure the safety of children's private information; no warning messages are sent when children provide or change their private information. No detection or removal of images, documents, or information that are inappropriate for children and affect their healthy development. No organization to receive information, evaluate and classify according to the level of safety for children, violating the provisions of Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP dated July 15, 2013.
Has not applied a policy to protect users' copyrighted content; has not notified the contact point on copyright and related rights issues to the specialized agency for state management of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and has not made it public on the TikTok platform's website.
Has not published information about the application owner on the homepage of the TikTok Shop application as prescribed, has not fully conducted inspection and supervision to ensure the provision of information about the seller's goods on the e-commerce trading floor as prescribed...
Immediately correct violations in providing social network services
On that basis, the Inspection Team requested the TikTok Office to take responsibility according to Vietnamese law for the provision of cross-border e-commerce trading floor services into Vietnam through the TikTok application. TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited must be directly authorized by TikTok Singapore to participate in the management and provision of cross-border services into Vietnam.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has discovered many harmful and toxic contents posted on TikTok.
The Ministry of Information and Communications recommends relevant ministries and branches to implement the Inspection Conclusion and strengthen management of TikTok Singapore's cross-border service provision activities into Vietnam.
The Ministry of Information and Communications will take measures to force TikTok Singapore to immediately correct the violations in providing social networking services and cross-border advertising services to Vietnam that have been pointed out. This includes removing 100% of content that violates Vietnamese law and having solutions to prevent content that has been blocked from being re-posted; Adding compliance with Vietnamese law to the Community Standards.
Do not use algorithms to create trends or recommend to users content that violates Vietnamese law, completely prohibit political advertising with content that opposes the Party and State of Vietnam. Coordinate in providing information to verify and investigate illegal acts committed on the TikTok platform according to regulations.
Implement child protection measures as prescribed in Articles 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, Chapter IV on the responsibility to protect children in the online environment of Decree No. 56/2017/ND-CP dated May 9, 2017 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Children. Improve the content censorship system...
The Ministry of Information and Communications also proposed that the Ministry of Public Security request TikTok Singapore to store Vietnamese users' data in accordance with regulations and authorize TikTok's legal entity in Vietnam to ensure information safety and security in accordance with Vietnam's regulations; supervise TikTok Singapore's implementation of storing Vietnamese users' data according to the Inspection Conclusion; the Ministry of Public Security closely coordinates with the Ministry of Information and Communications in detecting, preventing, and handling violations of the law on the TikTok platform in Vietnam.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has taken measures to force TikTok Singapore to immediately correct the violations in providing cross-border e-commerce platform services to Vietnam as indicated. There are solutions and tools to improve the effectiveness of anti-counterfeiting work and protect consumer rights in e-commerce in Vietnam...
Source
Comment (0)