VietNamNet Bridge - Many people who were living in peace have been suddenly sullied on the Internet, accused of crimes of theft or kidnapping.

In early January 2016, the Facebook page of a man named V.C.C posted a photo of two middle-aged women who were smoking with the caption: "These are Chinese child kidnappers. Please tell the police if you see them. Be careful!" Within hours, the information spread very quickly.

The two women who were called “child kidnappers” were Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, 51 and Ms. Ho Thi Tuyet Trinh, 47, residents in Ward 1, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.

Nga said on December 30, 2015, she and several women attended a party in District 8. During the party, a 9 year old child shot a picture of Nga and Trinh. The next day, the child's mother posted the photo on her Facebook page with the caption for fun.

The joke was quickly shared by many Facebookers, who "embellished" it with thrilling details. Some even posted comments like: "Just saw the two ‘female monsters’ with a boy on Hong Bang Road... This ring works very professionally."

Nga said on January 16, while carrying her aunt on a motorbike through Tran Hung Dao - Nguyen Van Cu intersection in District 1, two young men pointed to her face and shouted loudly: "The two kidnappers!" Nga was frightened and sped up to run away from the suspicious gaze of passersby.

Trinh was miserable for being slandered as a child kidnapper. "On January 17 I went to my son’s school to attend the parents’ meeting. I had to cover my face with a sheet of paper to avoid gossip,” Trinh said. “During the meeting, whenever someone looked at me, I tried to evade, as if I was a sinner," she added.

The Police of Ward 1 in District 5 confirmed that Trinh and Ngoc have lived in the location for almost 30 years; they are not Chinese and they are not child kidnappers.

Another victim of Facebook rumors is a 31-year-old woman named Le Thi Kieu Hanh from Tan Phu District, HCM City.

Hanh had to ask for help from local newspapers to post “corrected information” after someone posted articles on the Internet and Facebook, saying that Hanh was a “female monster” who arranged scenes on the street to rob drivers.

"I still do not understand why they smeared my reputation like this," Hanh said.

Besides those who were unjustly convicted, some people posted sensational, untrue information, turned them into victims or jokes on the Internet or even broke the law to make themselves “famous”.

Mr. Le Van Tu, 24, in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City said in early December 2015, he asked a friend to take photos of himself standing behind his mother with a rod in her hand. Tu posted the photo on his Facebook page for fun. But the photo was then spread on the Internet with comments criticizing Tu as an ungrateful son who beat his mother for money.

Recently, a young woman in Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City, tried to attract attention of customers to her fashion products on her Facebook page by spreading fake information that she adopted the child of a prisoner under the death penalty.

The information immediately attracted tens of thousands of viewers. The police investigated and found out that the child was the woman’s nephew.

According to a police officer in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Thanh police agency recently investigated a Facebooker who accidentally spread wrong information on the Internet causing economic damage to others.

Even before the man was summoned for investigation, he knew that his acts had caused serious consequences.

Be careful if you don’t want to go to jail for online jokes

Lawyer Nguyen Anh Minh, a member of the HCM City Bar Association, said that some Facebookers had been fined for spreading wrong information on the Internet; for example, a person who made fake Facebook pages to provoke IS rebels, a couple who faked information about two people infected with Ebola virus in Hanoi, a person who reported that the Ta Trach Dam in Thua Thien – Hue province was about to break, and another who reported the appearance of a mermaid in Quang Nam province.

Due to lack of awareness and limited understanding of the law, such violations are becoming more common, a police officer said.

“Under the Penal Code, distortion, slander and insulting the prestige and dignity of others are subject to administrative fines of VND10-VND20 million ($500-$1,000) and from three months to seven years in prison for acts that cause serious consequences," said lawyer Minh.

Linh Nhat