"Facebookers fined for mocking wealthy founder of budget Vietnamese airline", 24 January 2025

Two Hanoi Facebook users have been fined and ordered to delete satirical content they posted online about Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, founder and former chief executive officer of VietJet Air, according to the capital city’s government and state media.

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On Jan. 20, Hanoi’s Department of Information and Communications announced on its website that its Inspection Division had imposed administrative fines on two individuals identified by the initials N.Q.D. and N.T.N.

Bao Dien tu Chinh phu, the online newspaper of the government of Vietnam. republished the news and included screenshots of the offending posts, which appeared on the Facebook accounts of Nga Nguyen and Dzung Art Nguyen. Both posts contained similar content.

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The two individuals were fined for “providing fabricated and false information, insulting honor, reputation, dignity, or harming the legitimate rights and interests of other agencies, organizations, and individuals” under Article 16 of Vietnam’s cybersecurity law.

Human rights groups have criticized the law for restricting freedoms of expression, privacy and information, especially pointing to Article 16’s overly broad definition of what constitutes propaganda against the state.

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VietJet Air did not respond to a request for comment.

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