Hanoi’s authorities on May 10 fined a 39-year-old man VND12.5 million (US$542) for disseminating fake news that the capital city was being under lockdown.
The man, residing in Hoang Mai district, on May 4 posted on his Facebook account that "Hanoi streets are empty on its first day under lockdown," according to the municipal Department of Information and Communications.
The man in black fined US$542 for falsely claiming whole-city lockdown. Photo: The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications |
Such information is false and socially disruptive, the department said, adding that the man has admitted to his wrongdoing and deleted the information.
Vietnam is experiencing one of its toughest Covid-19 waves yet, with 442 Covid-19 community cases in 26 cities and provinces since late last month.
The national Covid-19 community transmission tally on May 10 reached 109 cases, breaking the previous all-time daily new cases high of 92 on May 9.
Hanoi has so far recorded 141 cases within the new wave, 49 of them recorded in the community and the rest related to the city’s two major hospitals.
The municipal authorities have suspended non-essential services like bars, dance clubs and karaoke parlors, as well as outdoor restaurants and cafes, and closed its weekend pedestrian streets to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung on May 6 affirmed that Hanoi would not be put under lockdown "at this moment" while urging citizens not to go out unnecessarily.
The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications said that in 2020, the competent forces have handled more than 1,000 perpetrators who spread fake news on social networks about the epidemic in Vietnam.
Therefore, all local residents need to check the information source. When detecting fake news, they should notify the Vietnam Center for Counterfeit Information Processing through the website: http://tingia.gov.vn, email: online.abei@mic.gov.vn, or hot line: 18008108.
