Fake news, untruths to attract views, likes, profit, fraud, harm, humiliate each other... on social networks now can be said to be multifaceted and present in almost all fields.
Fake news and untrue news spread on social networks in recent times have had and are having negative impacts on people, on the "social mood", causing confusion and public outrage.
There are types of fake news and false news that only cause harm and loss of trust in society, such as the recent call for charity for the flood in the North, but there are types of fake news and false news that have a huge impact on economic development, especially in the stock market, real estate, and finance.
Among them, "there is information that causes capital loss of thousands of billions of dong on the stock market" as Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang just reported to the National Assembly.
That is not to mention the fact that many individuals have formed groups and associations and then disseminated and spread information that distorts the Party's guidelines and the State's policies, bought and sold foreign currency, counterfeit money, fake certificates, drugs, weapons, explosives, sexual stimulants, and promoted unethical behaviors... which greatly affects security and order.
According to current regulations, those who spread false information can be subject to administrative or criminal penalties. In fact, in recent times, many individuals who disseminated and spread fake news and false information have been subject to administrative penalties and even criminal penalties. However, that is still not enough to act as a deterrent.
Furthermore, the handling by authorities of the act of disseminating and spreading fake news and false information is still not really effective because the administrative fine of 5-10 million VND according to Decree 15 of the Government is too light.
In particular, the law still lacks specific quantitative provisions to determine administrative violations or prosecute criminal liability for acts of spreading fake news or false information on cyberspace.
In a recent report to the National Assembly, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang expressed a noteworthy viewpoint: "Just fabricating or spreading things that are clearly known to be untrue in order to seriously offend the honor and dignity of others is enough to constitute a crime."
To minimize fake news and false information appearing on social networks, administrative penalties must be increased to the highest possible level.
At the same time, promptly supplement specific quantitative regulations to distinguish behaviors, for example, what is serious and what is not so serious, so that authorities can apply administrative or criminal frameworks to handle them.
Strict punishment is the most effective deterrent while waiting for people's awareness and compliance with the law to be raised through education!
