Two individuals were penalized for posting false information about the restructuring and merger of provinces and cities.

(CLO) On December 12, 2024, information from the Internal Political Security Department of the Nghe An Provincial Police indicated that the unit had issued administrative penalties to two individuals for posting false information about the arrangement and merger of provinces and cities nationwide.

Accordingly, the two individuals penalized are Mr. LVT (born in 1988, residing in Vinh City), a journalist, and Mr. NVM (born in 1988, residing in Tan Ky town, Nghe An province), a freelance worker.

Two cases of disseminating false information about the reorganization and merger of provinces and cities nationwide have been penalized (Figure 1). — The content posted on my personal Facebook account is false.

Previously, on November 26, 2024, the Facebook account NVM posted an article with the content: "This is the information on province mergers that I downloaded from the internet. I don't know if it's accurate," accompanied by images allegedly showing 31 new administrative units based on the rearrangement and merger of provinces and cities nationwide.

On November 28th, Mr. LVT's Facebook account, D.C., posted similar images with the caption "Plan to merge agencies from the central to local levels."

Following verification, the Internal Political Security Department summoned LVT and NVM for questioning to clarify their actions.

During questioning by the police, both admitted to all their violations, even though the information was unverified but had been posted on their personal Facebook accounts to increase engagement. Notably, NVM's Facebook account is a verified account with over 80,000 followers.

The actions of these two individuals were determined to violate Point a, Clause 1, Article 101 of Government Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP dated February 3, 2020, which stipulates administrative penalties for violations in postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology, and electronic transactions. The Internal Political Security Department of the Nghe An Provincial Police issued administrative penalties of 5 million VND to each individual.

In recent days, false and inaccurate information has emerged on social media regarding the restructuring of the political system, causing public confusion. Notably, a list of provincial-level administrative units slated for separation and merger has been circulating online. This list includes columns detailing the former provinces to be separated or merged; the name of the new province; the location of the provincial capital; the area of the separation/merger and the total area of the new province; the population of each separated/merged unit and the total population of the new administrative unit; and data on the gross regional product…

These are false statements. The Ministry of Interior has requested the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate and direct relevant agencies to review and handle the dissemination of false information related to the merger of provinces and centrally-administered cities, which is causing public confusion and affecting social stability.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/xu-phat-2-truong-hop-dang-thong-tin-sai-su-that-ve-viec-sap-xep-sap-nhap-tinh-thanh-tren-ca-nuoc-post325150.html