VietNamNet Bridge – A woman in the central province of Dak Nong has been fined VND10 million (US$430) for posting fake news about a swine disease outbreak in the area.

Tran Thi Thu Hong’s Facebook post. — Photo: danviet.vn

On Sunday, Tran Thi Thu Hong, 29, a resident of Gia Nghia Town, posted on her Facebook account “Trần Thu Hồng”, that authorities had detected an outbreak in Dak Mil District which had affected 800 pigs. Hong said the pigs were culled and buried but then unearthed for sale.

The fake news immediately drew public concerns, forcing local authorities to investigate.

Hong later removed her post and corrected the information, saying that she had only posted to raise the alarm among the community

On Wednesday, Quach Cong Ban, chief inspector of the provincial Department of Information and Communications, said he had decided to fine Hong.

He said Hong’s action had incited public anxiety and badly affected the husbandry industry.

Amid the outbreak of African swine fever in the country, Hong is not the first person to be fined for spreading fake information. Over the past month, at least three other Facebookers have been punished for the same action. One of them, a Hanoi-based online shop, was fined VND20 million ($860) for posting on its Facebook page that pork products from infected pigs were being sold in Vietnam. 

Source: VNS