Another writer has become a target of the ongoing social media denunciation campaigns in Việt Nam.
The Latest: In recent days, a widespread social media denunciation campaign has targeted Vietnamese writer Hà Thủy Nguyên.
- Numerous accounts are demanding that authorities “take action against her” and are actively opposing the inclusion of an excerpt from her work, “Thiên Mã,” in a seventh-grade textbook.
Critics allege that another of her works, “Thần quỷ ở Hà Nội” (“Gods and Demons in Hà Nội”), distorts history and insults national leaders, including Hồ Chí Minh and the late Communist Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng.
- Hà Thủy Nguyên denies these allegations, stating: “The information now circulating online is fake, anonymous, and intended to destroy my personal reputation.”
The Details: The online backlash unfolded rapidly across several days:
- July 29 and July 31: Facebook user Trần Đình Sao—a prominent participant in the ongoing online denunciation campaigns—condemned the inclusion of Hà Thủy Nguyên’s work in textbooks, calling her “a person with deviant and insolent views” and describing her writing as “online trash.”
- He called for authorities to intervene, alleging that she had insulted Hồ Chí Minh and Nguyễn Phú Trọng.
- July 30: A Facebook account named Đạo sĩ Việt râu published a post titled, “Who Helped Put the Trash Written by Hà Thủy Nguyên—a Hack Who Insulted Uncle Hồ—Into Textbooks?”
- The author criticized the editorial council of the 2018 general education curriculum and the Ministry of Education and Training for including Hà Thủy Nguyên’s work in a textbook.
- July 31: Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn, the military’s former director of propaganda and training, urged the Ministry of Education and Training to remove works by writers with “reactionary views,” specifically naming Hà Thủy Nguyên.
- Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn alleged that Hà Thủy Nguyên had written a fantasy novel that “gravely insulted” Hồ Chí Minh.
- He wrote, “What will students think, and how will their perceptions change, when they learn that these authors contradict history and insult national leaders?”
- July 31: Facebook user Đinh Đức Toàn, who has 389,000 followers, demanded “strict punishment,” accusing the author of “deliberately inserting fantastical, superstitious, and reactionary passages intended to smear and insult” Hồ Chí Minh’s reputation.
- He called her conduct “not merely impulsiveness or artistic delusion, but an act of distorting history and insulting a national leader.”
- Đinh Đức Toàn also described Hà Thủy Nguyên as “an unacceptable stain on the literary community,” urging authorities to “promptly investigate, verify, and strictly punish” her.
- July 31: The Facebook account Đỗ Hải Triều HN called for authorities to “remove all those who call themselves writers but are anti-educational and uncultured.”
- July 31: Tifosi, a pro-government Facebook page of unknown ownership, accused Hà Thủy Nguyên of writing about national leaders in “extremely filthy language,” claiming that her conduct was even worse than that of Nguyễn Thành Nam.
- Other social media accounts and pages, including Việt Nam thời cuộc, Việt Nam trong tôi, Thông tin chống phản động, and Phản bác quan điểm sai trái, thù địch, echoed these demands.
The Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism have not issued any official statements concerning possible action against her work.
Who is Hà Thủy Nguyên? Hà Thủy Nguyên (born Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo in Hà Nội in 1986) is a writer, screenwriter, and cultural researcher.
- She is known for fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction, including “Điệu nhạc trần gian,” “Cầm Thư quán,” “Thiên Mã,” and “Bên kia cánh cửa.”
- Outside literature, she has written scripts for television and researched culture, communications, religion, and belief systems.
- She is also the founder and strategy director of Book Hunter, a community focused on academic discussion, book publishing, and producing content that applies knowledge to practical life.
Currently, Hà Thủy Nguyên’s personal Facebook account has been deleted or temporarily deactivated.
- Her WordPress page also displays the message: “This account has been suspended.”
- Book Hunter has also changed its domain from bookhunter.vn to thebookhunter.org. In addition, visitors to the former domain now see a message stating that the account has been suspended.
- Her YouTube channel with 463 subscribers remains active.
The Disputed Work: “Thần quỷ ở Hà Nội,” the subject of the denunciation campaign, has been removed from the internet.
- The book incorporates figures and symbols from Vietnamese history and culture—including Đức Thánh Tản Viên and Hồ Chí Minh—as well as fictional characters named Mad, Asker, Rabbit, and Cat.
Several excerpts from the book have also been circulating on social media.
- In the book, Hồ Chí Minh is associated with supernatural forces and described as “an inside agent for spiritual forces from the North advancing southward.”
- Other passages compare Hồ Chí Minh to “an old cat that has become a spirit” and “an old fox spirit.”
- In one exchange, Mad tells Hồ Chí Minh: “You manipulate the government and seize land in Ba Vì. This is disgraceful! Go back to your embalmed corpse in Ba Đình.”
- In another passage, Đức Thánh Tản Viên says, “Hồ Chí Minh is only a child.”
The Background: This mobilization closely mirrors recent online campaigns that successfully targeted other literary works.
- Prominent figures in the current backlash, such as Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn and Facebook user Phan Trung Can, previously led denunciations against Bảo Ninh’s “The Sorrow of War” and an event concerning Trương Vĩnh Ký.
The most notable recent precedent is the campaign against the book “Chuyện với Thanh,” which was accused of “distorting history,” “insulting President Hồ Chí Minh,” and “insulting the Vietnamese nation.”
- On July 7, state media announced the arrests of Nguyễn Thành Nam, the author of Chuyện với Thanh, and Trần Việt Anh, the director of Spiderum, who promoted the book.
- On July 15, Hà Nội police charged and detained three officials from the Writers’ Association Publishing House: Director Nguyễn Thúy Hằng, Editor-in-Chief Đào Bá Đoàn, and Editorial Department Head Nguyễn Văn Yên.
- All five individuals were accused under Article 117 of Việt Nam’s Penal Code of “making, storing, disseminating, or propagandizing information, documents, or materials aimed at opposing the state.”
Prior to the arrests, the Writers’ Association Publishing House issued an apology on June 10 and recalled the book.
- On June 15, the publisher faced a two-month suspension and a fine of 100 million đồng for publishing “extremely serious false content.”
- On the same day, the Press Authority penalized 23 news organizations and disciplined more than 30 people for publishing articles that “praised” the book.
Online denunciation campaigns have also targeted other authors and books, including:
- “Đức Thánh Trần,” by Trần Thanh Cảnh
- “Chim ưng và chàng đan sọt,” by Bùi Việt Sỹ
Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 2, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
