The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) shut down the websites www.123doc.vn and www.khoahoc.com.vn for operating without licenses, MIC representatives said on December 5.

While www.123doc.vn operated as a social network, www.khoahoc.com.vn ran as an information website.

The ministry also fined www.123doc.vn owner, Nguyen Duy Khanh, from Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district 13 million VND (619 USD) and www.khoahoc.com.vn creator, Nguyen Ngoc Hai, from Long Bien district 8 million VND (380.9 USD) for setting up the websites without licenses.

The fines were levied in accordance with Items 2 and 3 at Article 63 of the Government’s Decree 174/2013/ND-CP on penalising administrative violations regarding the fields of post, telecommunications, information technology, and radio frequency.

Over the last several months, the MIC has undertaken a series of drastic actions to correct websites’ operations in Vietnam.

On October 25, MIC Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan told the online newspaper Vietnam Plus that the ministry will temporarily suspend operations or shut down unlicensed websites.-VNA