The Press Authority Director condemns a wave of “online trials,” prompting a defiant poetic response.
The Latest: Without naming anyone directly, Press Authority Director Lưu Đình Phúc condemned what he called a wave of “extreme denunciations,” saying that its purpose is to “incite mob psychology to damage the honor of individuals and organizations.”
- In response, Phan Trung Can—a former soldier and prominent figure in recent online campaigns—posted a poem titled “Don’t Threaten” on his Facebook page on the afternoon of July 12.
The Details: Phúc’s article, titled “The Conflation of Management Responsibility and Personal Views,” first appeared on the evening of July 11, after he posted it on his personal Facebook page.
- It was later reposted by several state journalists, including Hoàng Tư Giang and Đỗ Thu Hà before being published by Tuổi Trẻ the next morning.
- Phúc, who directly oversees newspapers and broadcasters nationwide, described recent denunciation campaigns as “trials by social media,” where information is cut and spliced, motives are assigned, political views are attached, and calls are made for dismissals.
In his 350-word text, Phúc appeared to refer to Can, a veteran, and Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn, a former head of the military’s Department of Propaganda and Training.
- Both men are highly active and influential figures in recent denunciation campaigns.
- Phúc warned that such campaigns could have “grave and deeply concerning” consequences.
“Instead of debating conduct, they move to condemning the person; instead of waiting for conclusions from competent authorities, they treat ‘the verdict of social media’ as the verdict. And if something happens in reality, extreme voices claim it was because of ‘their’ pressure that the result occurred,” Phúc wrote.
Prior Events: Earlier, on July 9, Quân Đội Nhân Dân—the military newspaper heavily targeted by Can—published an article titled “Beware the trap of online ‘stone-throwing,’” warning of the “vanity-seeking mentality” of some social media users, including officials and party members.
- Notably, the paper alleged that behind posts and comments cloaked in “patriotism” and “love for the people” were schemes to incite “peaceful evolution,” promote “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” and sow division and disunity.
The following day, in a July 10 post titled “The responsibility of Nhân Dân newspaper should be reviewed,” Can accused Nhân Dân of recently “loosening management and allowing some reporters to publish news and articles that go against the Party’s policies and guidelines.”
- He placed the responsibility squarely on Editor-in-Chief Lê Quốc Minh.
Following the publications by Quân Đội Nhân Dân and Phúc, Can posted a poem. Without explicitly naming his detractors, Can appeared to target those accusing him of wanting to form a separate political party while affirming his strict loyalty to the Communist Party of Vietnam.
- In the poem, Can wrote that he was “determined to fight the ‘platform-heads’ who overturn history” and that people should “not threaten or intimidate, thinking they can shake the people’s will.”
Failure to Contact: Luật Khoa attempted to contact the Press Authority on the morning of July 13 through publicly listed phone numbers on its website, but the calls either did not ring or returned messages saying that the subscriber was temporarily unreachable.
- Luật Khoa also contacted Can via Facebook on the morning of July 13 for comment but has not received a response.
The Background: The current clash stems from “Chuyện với Thanh,” a book that sparked heated debate and accusations of “overturning history,” “insulting President Hồ Chí Minh,” and “insulting the Vietnamese nation” by telling the story of Nguyễn Tất Thành—a name that Hồ Chí Minh used in his youth—in an unconventional manner.
This wave of backlash began with figures who were already prominent in previous denunciation campaigns against the book The Sorrow of War and an event regarding Trương Vĩnh Ký, namely the following:
- Former soldier Phan Trung Can
- Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn
On July 9, Phúc stated that the Press Authority planned to “handle administrative violations” by media outlets that praised Nguyễn Thành Nam’s Chuyện với Thanh.
- Nam himself is currently in pretrial detention while authorities investigate him for alleged “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 regarding accusations that he “insulted President Hồ.”
Trịnh Hữu Long wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on July 13, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
