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The rapid spread of fake news on Vietnamese social media platforms has sparked serious concern among experts, highlighted by a recent high-profile defamation case that demonstrates how quickly false information can spread online.
On September 19, Hanoi Police prosecuted 28-year-old Le Huong Ly for defamation just one day after launching a criminal investigation. The case stemmed from a personal conflict on September 12, when Ly posted defamatory content about beauty queen Quynh Hoa on social media, using vulgar language and making sensitive allegations.
Authorities determined that Ly’s posts were “untrue, seriously insulting to dignity and honor, and causing harm to the legitimate rights and interests of another person.” What made this case particularly alarming was how rapidly the content spread—hundreds of Facebook fan pages and numerous TikTok accounts shared the posts, creating a viral wave of misinformation that reached countless users.
Le Quoc Vinh, Chair of Le Bros, explained that fake news spreads more easily than factual information because it’s specifically designed to be deceptive. “Fake news often starts with a real event or phenomenon, then gets embellished with exaggerated details, conspiracy theories, and fabrications, causing social confusion,” Vinh noted.
He pointed to a key psychological factor in the spread of misinformation: confirmation bias. “Fake news only spreads when it strikes people’s prejudices,” Vinh said. “If you already harbor bias against an individual, company, or product, then a small kernel of ‘reality’ in a fake claim may be enough for you to leap to believe it.”
The mechanics of sharing amplify the problem. Even seemingly innocent interactions like likes, comments, or shares directly contribute to the propagation of false information. “When we share, comment, or even click ‘like’ or ‘haha’, we directly or indirectly help that false information spread, pulling more people in our network to read and further propagate it,” Vinh explained.
Vo Quoc Hung from Tonkin Media highlighted that Vietnamese users are particularly susceptible to emotionally charged content. Drama, anger, and fear are powerful triggers that fake news creators exploit thoroughly. The fear of missing out (FOMO) often drives users to share content without verification, compounding the problem.
There’s also a significant economic incentive behind the creation and spread of fake news. When viral posts generate massive view counts on platforms like Facebook or YouTube, the ad revenue can be substantial, motivating bad actors to create sensationalist content regardless of its veracity.
Technological factors are exacerbating the issue. According to Statista, nearly 40 percent of interaction triggers and fake news propagation in Vietnam come from bots and fake accounts. Meanwhile, existing laws struggle to address the problem effectively, particularly when dealing with cross-border misinformation.
Digital expert Nhan Nguyen attributes the problem to Vietnamese users’ strong appetite for information combined with underdeveloped critical thinking skills. “Vietnamese users have strong information consumption needs, but lack personal ‘filters’, so they easily fall for sensational content, which is why fake news thrives and spreads,” Nguyen said.
The scale of the issue becomes clear when examining internet usage statistics. According to the Digital 2025 Vietnam report by We Are Social and Meltwater, Vietnam had 79.8 million internet users by early 2025, representing 78.8 percent of the population. Between January 2024 and January 2025, this number grew by 223,000 users.
The country also boasts 76.2 million social media accounts, equivalent to 75.2 percent of the population. Vietnamese users spend an average of 6 hours and 5 minutes daily on online activities, with over 2 hours dedicated to social media platforms like Facebook, Zalo, and TikTok.
As Vietnam’s digital landscape continues to evolve, addressing the spread of misinformation will require a multi-pronged approach involving education, technological solutions, and potentially stronger regulatory frameworks.
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