The Department of Information and Communications, in collaboration with Thai Nguyen City Police, imposed administrative fines on individuals who committed the following offense: "Providing, sharing false information, misinformation, distortion or defamation that harms the reputation of organizations and personal dignity".

The average daily internet usage time per person is 6 hours and 38 minutes, with 3 hours and 32 minutes spent on mobile phones and 3 hours and 6 minutes on other devices, including 2 hours and 28 minutes on social media platforms. The most widely used social media platforms in Vietnam, in order, are Facebook, Zalo, Facebook Messenger, Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, Pinterest and others. Facebook, in particular, has 70.4 million users. With this number, Vietnam ranks 12th in the world for the highest number of internet users and 6th out of 35 countries/territories in the Asian region (according to the Ministry of Information and Communications).

In Thai Nguyen province, there are over 1.3 million mobile subscribers, with approximately 70% of them using smartphones. There are around 60 Facebook groups that share information about the province, as well as about 10 groups, personal blogs and accounts that regularly post and share information about Thai Nguyen. In the first six months of 2023, the online information monitoring system (Reputa) scanned and detected 84,014 posts sharing information about Thai Nguyen, with 33,901 positive pieces of information, 3,891 negative pieces of information and 46,217 neutral pieces of information.

From the above data, cyberspace is a channel to provide and exchange information quickly and promptly. With strengths and high interactivity, wide coverage and convenience, social networking platforms have attracted a large number of users, thereby, having a profound impact on all aspects of life, contributing to economic, cultural and social development at a certain level. However, along with the rapid development of social networking platforms, the situation of law violations in cyberspace also tends to increase rapidly and develop complicatedly in many different forms such as spreading distorted information, defamation and damaging the reputation of organizations, as well as the honor and dignity of individuals, advertising and selling prohibited goods and services, promoting banned literary and artistic works and disseminating false or misleading information. In addition, online fraud to steal property is also on the rise. According to the Information Security Department (Ministry of Information and Communications), in the first six months of 2023, online fraud in Vietnam increased by 67.78% compared to the same period last year and increased by 37.82% compared to the last six months of 2022.

Mr. Vi Tuan Dung, the Chief Inspector of the Department of Information and Communications, stated that the recent negative and harmful information spread on social networking platforms is primarily fabricated, false and involves sharing explicit content, violating ethical and cultural norms and disseminating sensational content aimed at gaining likes and views for personal gain. The Department of Information and Communications has cooperated with the provincial police to address various cases within the province.

Management agencies have implemented various solutions to protect and assist the public in creating a safe and healthy online ecosystem. In early October, the Ministry of Information and Communications launched a campaign to encourage young people to create positive content on social media platforms, aiming to bring shared value to the community. The Radio and Television Broadcasting and Electronic Information Department established the Anti Fake News Center, worked with Facebook, Google, TikTok and Apple to prevent and remove links, games, clips and accounts that violate Vietnamese law, organized the "Online Fraud Awareness and Prevention Month" campaign and the Department of Information and Communications regularly monitors information related to Thai Nguyen province on social media and promptly collaborates with the provincial police to take action as required...

And in order to distinguish between fake news and real news, without suffering consequences when using, posting and sharing information, each citizen needs to change the way they receive information, have digital skills to filter fake news, build their own ethical standards, cultivate positive habits in their online behavior, aligning them with the ethical and cultural values of Vietnam to protect themselves in the online space. If every social media user has a proper awareness and contributes by creating healthy and positive content, they can help spread good values in life and contribute to building a safe and positive online environment in Vietnam.