Legal perspective on the case of a business household having false information posted on social networks

The situation of some people taking advantage of freedom of speech to spread false information on social networks has pushed many individuals and businesses to the brink of bankruptcy. Social networks are virtual, but they cause many serious consequences for real life, including legal consequences.

Accessories - Cosmetics - General Store Huyen 2K.

Unintentionally became "famous" online

Recently, in a petition for help sent to the police and the press, Ms. Vo Thi Huyen (born in 1989, address at Tan Hoa Hamlet, Dong Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) - owner of the business "Accessories - Cosmetics - General Store Huyen 2K" suddenly became "famous" on the social network TikTok from a seemingly very simple incident.

According to Ms. Huyen, at about 6:42 p.m. on August 21, 2025, Ms. H. - owner of the TikTok account "Teacher..." came to Ms. Huyen's store. Recognizing a regular customer, Ms. Huyen happily greeted her and then had to leave the store, while Ms. H stayed to take pictures of the products and the store space.

During the night and morning of August 22, Ms. Huyen suddenly received many threatening and insulting calls and messages for unknown reasons, along with the appearance of a series of 1-star reviews on Google Maps and insulting and attacking comments on the Store's Fanpage.

Immediately, Ms. Huyen found out and learned that her sudden "fame" was due to Ms. H. On the TikTok channel named: "Teacher...", Ms. H posted a video describing Ms. H. having a negative shopping experience with the owner of an accessories store. Below the video's comment section, the search content appeared: "huyen_2k_phukien shop", below were a series of comments "attached" directly to the store name huyen_2k_phukienshop, huyen_2k_phukien,..., comments calling for 1-star reviews. All were directed at Ms. Huyen's store.

Serious consequences of negative effects

Ms. H.'s video posted on TikTok received a lot of interactions and quickly became a trend on the TikTok platform. Then, on August 22, Ms. H. continuously posted 3 more videos about the incident in the direction of continuing to prove herself right, thanking the online community for getting justice for her, hoping that the store owner would realize his mistake and change. These videos also received a lot of interactions and support.

A few days later, another TikTok account, “Y…” (with up to 1.7 million followers); TikTok accounts such as: “Vach tra Huyen2k…”, “Gau Bong…”, “Meo Cam…”, continued to re-upload the video with sensational headlines to attract viewers, continuously attacking, posting, and spreading false information about Ms. Huyen’s personal information and her store to attract the online community to continuously attack. Through investigation, Ms. Huyen learned that all of the above TikTok accounts belonged to a number of female students studying at a university in the “Thu Duc University Village” area, Ho Chi Minh City.

The consequences of the incident caused Ms. Huyen and her business to be collectively "stoned" and mentally terrorized by netizens. The number of customers coming to Ms. Huyen's store has seriously decreased. Originally a store with the most customers in the area, since the incident happened, the number of customers has completely disappeared, revenue immediately decreased by 50%/day compared to the previous period, decreased by 80% compared to the same period last year; risk of having to close the store.

Immediately after the incident, Ms. Huyen contacted Ms. H. to clarify the matter. However, after many messages asking for a time and place to meet, Ms. H. refused and then blocked Ms. Huyen's Zalo account.

The image of the store still bustling with customers at night before the incident was falsely reported (photo: Store Camera provided)

And deserted, desolate, revenue seriously damaged after bad news was posted on TikTok. (Photo: Store camera provided)

Report the incident to the authorities

To protect her legitimate rights, Ms. Huyen hired Duc Hoa Bailiff Office to create a record of the entire incident as evidence for settlement.

On September 9, Ms. Huyen also sent a complaint against Ms. H. to the Saigon Ward Police (HCMC) and currently the Saigon Ward Police have accepted, reviewed and resolved the case according to regulations. Ms. Huyen also sent a complaint to the university where the female students who own the Tiktok accounts study; at the same time, she also reported the Tiktok accounts of these female students to the police.

Ms. Huyen said that, up to now, the videos related to the incident between Ms. H. and Ms. Huyen's store on the TikTok channel "Teacher..." have completely disappeared, Ms. H. also hid this TikTok channel without any explanation. The owner of the channel "Bear Teddy..." went directly to the Store to meet and apologize to Ms. Huyen, then also posted a public apology on his TikTok channel (but then deleted the post). The TikTok account "Y...", in addition to immediately removing the video upon receiving Ms. Huyen's email request, did not have any other response, correction or apology.

However, there are still many other accounts that continue to attack and spread false information about Ms. Huyen and the Store on social media platforms. As a result, the Store's business situation is still declining and has not improved.

Ms. Huyen affirmed that she will pursue the case to the end, requesting the authorities to strictly handle the act of slander, posting and spreading fabricated and slanderous information about her on social networks as a warning and example for those who abuse social networks to post false information.

Analyzing the legality of the case, a lawyer said that in the current 4.0 era, when everyone and every household has the right to create one or more personal information pages on social networks, it also raises the issue of being extremely careful in speaking and posting images when using social networks and needing to equip ourselves with the necessary legal knowledge to protect ourselves. For example, when someone else posts false information about us online, instead of "arguing" or retaliating, we need to take measures to protect ourselves by legal actions such as: making a record, sending a petition to the authorities to request the law to handle the violation...

According to current law, the act of posting false information on social networks, depending on the level and consequences, can be subject to administrative or criminal sanctions; if causing damage, compensation must be paid according to the law.

Specifically, according to Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP of the Government on administrative sanctions for violations in the fields of post, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology..., the lightest fine is from 10 million VND, applying remedial measures to force the removal of false or misleading information or information that violates the law due to committing a violation.

If the seriousness of the act is such that criminal proceedings must be taken, depending on the motive and purpose of spreading false information on social networks, the person posting false information may be prosecuted for one of the following crimes: Slander, Humiliation of others, or Illegally providing or using information on computer networks or telecommunications networks...

Social networks are not virtual, but the legal consequences of actions taken on the internet are always real. In this particular case, the consequences not only cause material and mental damage to the person who is unjustly posted false information; but on the contrary, the subject who posts false information causing consequences to others may also face legal consequences: in terms of administrative sanctions or criminal sanctions according to the legal provisions as analyzed above.

Hai Trieu

Source: https://phapluatplus.baophapluat.vn/goc-nhin-phap-ly-vu-mot-ho-kinh-doanh-bi-dang-thong-tin-sai-su-that-len-mang-xa-hoi-228517.html