The prosecution and temporary detention of Doan Quoc Viet - owner of the TikTok account "Du Bau troi" by Ho Chi Minh City Police for abusing democratic freedoms, posting videos to divide regions, insulting the honor of others... is a very welcome move.
The illegal acts of the TikTok account owner "Du Thien troi" and many others once again exposed the alarming reality on social networks: users regardless of the consequences, follow the trend to make money.
In the statement of the Vietnam National Assembly Delegation to the police, there is a notable detail: Viet received a message from Le Anh Diep (owner of the TikTok account "Tang Keng Ong Trump") about Diep's video insulting Southern people trending. From there, Viet came up with the idea and imitated two video clips, from insulting Southern people to Northern people.
It is a fact that on TikTok, following trends is the fastest way to become famous. A video that reaches hundreds of thousands of views can attract a huge number of followers, opening up opportunities to attach advertisements, receive virtual gifts, and business contracts.
The platform's algorithm prioritizes shocking and controversial content; the stronger the reaction, the easier it is to push it to the top trending. It is that mechanism that has turned views into currency, making many young people willing to trade ethics and the law just to up the trend.
It is worth mentioning that since 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications (now the Ministry of Science and Technology) has organized an inspection and published a series of violations of TikTok in Vietnam. This includes storing information violating Vietnamese law on domestic CDN servers, including: fake, distorted information, inciting violence, social evils, information harming children...
TikTok Vietnam representative then also committed to comply with local legal regulations.
However, the TikTok Despite the Sky incident and similar cases recently show that authorities need to take a tougher and more determined attitude towards TikTok Vietnam, in parallel with handling violating account holders at the strictest level.
Finally, the most important thing is still the culture and awareness of right - wrong, bad - beautiful as well as the courage to overcome the harmful trap of TikTok users in particular and social networks in general.
A trend that is truly worthy of being called a trend is when it spreads good and humane things. On the contrary, although it is also a "trend", it is a trend of being punished, condemned, even arrested, and prosecuted for taking advantage of democratic freedoms - as in the case of the TikTok account "Du Bau troi".
And this is a lesson for money.
