Ministries, agencies to conduct comprehensive inspections of TikTok's operations in Vietnam

Eight ministries and agencies will coordinate in conducting comprehensive, unscheduled inspections of TikTok's operations in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC).
Ministries, agencies to conduct comprehensive inspections of TikTok's operations in Vietnam ảnh 1Illustrative image (Photo: vtv.vn) 
Hanoi (VNA) – Eight ministries and agencieswill coordinate in conducting comprehensive, unscheduled inspections of TikTok'soperations in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Information andCommunications (MIC).

Apart from the MIC, the inspection delegation willcomprise representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, Sports andTourism, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, theMinistry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ho Chi Minh CommunistYouth Union Central Committee, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department ofInformation and Communications.

The inspections will be conducted on TikTok's operationsboth online and at its representative office in HCM City, focusing on itsobservance of regulations on social network service supply for domestic users, information censorship, user information verification, and prevention andremoval of information violating legal regulations in Vietnam.

The checks will also target the handling ofcomplaints filed by users, content recommendation algorithms, and user datacollection, management, storage, and usage. Information safety and cyber security, observance of regulations on the advertisement and child protection, the fightagainst social evils in cyberspace, the observance of regulations on e-commerce service supply, and taxes will all come under scrutiny in the inspections.

Other activities to be probed include the managementof celebrities, who work in arts and perform on TikTok, as well as TikTok'simpact on young people, and the trend and role of the media.

TikTok, along with its Chinese counterpart Douyin,is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

Vietnam currently ranks 6th among the 10 countrieswith the largest number of TikTok users in the world. In February, there wereabout 49.9 million people using TikTok in Vietnam, according to DataReportal.
Last month, the MIC announced six major violationscommitted by TikTok in Vietnam.

First, TikTok failed to handle violations in contentrelated to politics, hostile activities against the Party and Government, fakenews, and harmful content.

Secondly, TikTok used an automated algorithm tocreate trends and spread content for views, regardless of its offensivecontent, which has a negative impact on the community and youth.

Thirdly, it lacked effective measures to prevent thesale of counterfeit goods, illicit drugs, and supplements of unknown origin.

Fourthly, this short-form video platform failed tomanage the activities of TikTok idols, many of whom create inappropriatecontent to attract viewers. For example, some TikTok idols haverecently created unsuitable online challenges, in which the more shocking andoffensive the content is, the more gifts or money they receive. TikTok receives70% of the total revenue from such challenges.

Fifthly, non-copyrighted content has been rampant onthis platform without any effective prevention measures from TikTok. 

Finally, TikTok has no effective measures to preventusers from using someone else’s private and personal images to spread fake newsor defame and insult others.

Le Quang Tu Do, head of the MIC’s Authority ofBroadcasting and Electronic Information, said TikTok’s violations have causedsevere consequences like facilitating the spread of fake news, socio-economiclosses, and social unrest.

With comprehensive inspections, the ministry willroll out legal, economic, technical, diplomatic, and communicationsolutions to request cross-border platforms like TikTok to observe Vietnameselaw./.

VNA

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