A police propaganda video defending the recent crackdown on 45 social media users has ignited a fierce digital backlash in central Việt Nam, prompting authorities to issue stern public warnings about “responsibility” in cyberspace.
The Latest: After receiving thousands of critical comments accusing the agency of “lacking freedom of expression” and questioning whether police “protect the Party or the people,” Huế City police have issued a reminder to citizens regarding their “awareness and responsibility” in cyberspace.
On June 4, the police department posted a video on its official Facebook page detailing the handling of 45 accounts that had “frequently interacted” with “reactionary pages.” In less than 24 hours, the video generated nearly 20,000 interactions and more than 3,000 comments, prompting direct responses from the authorities.
Social Media Comments: The majority of comments under the police video displayed mixed reactions.
- One comment by an account named Binhthin Le, which accumulated 289 likes and haha reactions, stated: “So in the end, even accidentally farting could get you summoned? Hehe.”
- Another user, Minh Đạt, received 539 likes and haha reactions for asking: “Is the main duty of the police to protect the Party or protect the people?”
- A third account, Sỹ Phan, referenced standard administrative fines, commenting: “I have a question, but I don’t have 7.5 million đồng.”
Police Response: Facing this wave of criticism, Huế City police responded directly in the comment section:
“What is worth reflecting on is that among the thousands of comments below, quite a few opinions mocked, distorted, or rushed to conclusions about the content being discussed, even though the commenters may very well not have fully reviewed the information, context, and relevant legal provisions.”
Addressing claims that the agency was “restricting freedom of expression” and “pressuring citizens,” the police stated that their “handling” of individuals did not depend merely on “following a page” or “dropping an emoji reaction.”
Instead, the authorities emphasized that cases had been assessed “comprehensively” based on “the level of participation, interaction content, sharing, endorsement, or dissemination of information that violates the law.”
The police called on citizens to “uphold the law,” asserting that such compliance must be built from the public’s “awareness and responsibility in cyberspace.”
The Background: On May 20, independent outlet Luật Khoa reported that 45 people had been summoned by Huế City police for “frequently following, accessing, and interacting” with pages accused of containing “fake, fabricated, distorted, and anti-state content from exiled reactionary figures.”
- It currently remains unclear whether the incident reported by Luật Khoa and the specific case detailed in the June 4 police video are the exact same event.
Broader context shows that recently, online propaganda aimed at “strengthening information control,” “protecting the ideological foundation of the Party,” and promoting legal compliance has become a primary objective for the Communist Party.
Alongside this effort, most public agencies now operate their Facebook pages and regularly execute propaganda campaigns on social media. Diverse content posted by local police pages has attracted significant public attention and engagement.
Notable examples include posts that “joke” about drug crime crackdowns by the Drug Crime Investigation Police Division of the Hồ Chí Minh City Police and ca trù-style clips regarding gambling produced by Dương Nội Ward police.
While drawing high engagement, some of these materials have also generated mixed reactions.
Why It Matters: In recent years, many social media users have been “invited to work” with police over their online activities.
More recently, however, these summonses appear to have become significantly more frequent, signaling that digital enforcement measures have grown substantially tighter across the country.
Hoàng Nam wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 5, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
