The escalating conflict between Nguyễn Công Vượng and the Ministry of Public Security’s television network shows no signs of slowing down, as state media doubles down on its accusations of anti-state sabotage.
The Latest: On May 30, People’s Public Security Television (Truyền hình Công an Nhân dân), or ANTV, posted a nearly 47-minute report titled Truth Perspective: Freedom of Expression and How Anti-State Forces Manipulate It (Góc nhìn sự thật: Tự do ngôn luận và sự lèo lái của những kẻ chống phá đất nước).
The channel continued to call Nguyễn Công Vượng, known as Vượng Râu, “a person sabotaging the country.”
The Details: The section regarding Vượng in the new report runs from 1:58 to 4:26, featuring content that is largely similar to an earlier broadcast. The segment relies solely on the channel’s assessments and commentary regarding his social media posts and activities, and it does not include a response from Vượng.
The report adds new illustrative images, including a screenshot of an article about him on the Việt Tân website.
It also incorporates a segment titled “the reality of exploiting freedom of expression to distort the truth on social media,” which the channel originally produced in August 2025.
Vượng has not yet made any public move in response to this newly released report.
The Background: The May 30 broadcast uses the exact title of a previous report that was posted on the afternoon of May 21 on ANTV’s YouTube channel, which boasts more than 8.15 million subscribers.
That initial report was later renamed Vượng ‘Râu’—A Clown Who Distorts History to Undermine the State (Vượng ‘Râu’—Gã hề lèo lái, xuyên tạc lịch sử chống phá đất nước).
In the broadcast, ANTV called Vượng a “clown” and claimed that his posts “manipulated and distorted concepts, falsified history, and smeared the image of national heroes.”
ANTV also emphasized his alleged links to several “reactionary and politically hostile subjects.”
On the morning of May 22, ANTV reposted the report on its Facebook page, which has more than 3 million followers, leading many other newspapers and channels to repeat the content.
On May 25, Vượng sent a written request asking the editorial board of ANTV to immediately remove the report, correct false information, and issue a public apology.
Following this, on May 26, he posted a legal notice prepared by his representatives, Hà Lan and Associates Law Office in Hà Nội, on his personal Facebook page.
The notice stated that the May 21 report contained “labeling, accusations, images, and hostile commentary” against their client, adding that all of this information was unverified and lacked basis.
What People are Saying: Public opinion on the issue remains divided.
- A YouTube channel named “Viet Discovery Channel,” which has more than 207,000 subscribers, stated the new report by ANTV was “the end” for Vượng.
- The Facebook page Tifosi—whose owner is unclear but is known for pro-government content—wrote that ANTV still treated the matter “gently.” The page stated it was unclear what would happen if ANTV released evidence that Vượng had shared false information and insulted Hồ Chí Minh.
- Another Facebook page, Hót New Giải Trí Online, stated Vượng was “more likely in trouble than safe.”
- On Facebook, an account named Huy Six stated Vượng should be “careful and ashamed” of his statements and “short-sighted” political thinking; this analysis video received more than 3,000 likes, along with hundreds of comments and shares.
- Many other accounts supported the move by ANTV, mocked the legal action taken by Vượng, and predicted his defeat under posts on major Facebook pages such as Top Comments, which has 4.6 million followers, and Tuyền Văn Hóa, which has 5.5 million followers.
Conversely, some Facebook pages criticized the actions of ANTV.
- The Facebook page Việt Nam’s Political Roundtable (Bàn tròn chính trị Việt Nam), which has 329,000 followers, stated the claim that international organizations and Vượng were sabotaging Việt Nam was inaccurate.
- The page argued that international organizations assess the Vietnamese authorities, not the Vietnamese people.
- The administrator of the page also noted that they had once “appeared” on ANTV and in Vietnamese state media with their face crossed out and facing accusations of sabotaging the country, despite being a patriotic citizen who had done nothing to harm the nation.
Additionally, the conflict sparked criticism of Báo Lao Động for publishing an article regarding the life of Vượng while ANTV was actively condemning him.
An account named Trung Can Phan wrote, “Báo Lao Động is the official press and media channel of the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labor (Tổng Liên đoàn Lao động Việt Nam) and cannot make statements that run counter to, or distort, political positions.”
Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 1, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
