TikTok pledges to redress law violations in Vietnam
VOV.VN - A representative of the social networking platform TikTok has pledged close coordination with relevant Vietnamese agencies to make its operations within the law following the announcement of its violations in the country.
“We will coordinate closely with relevant ministries and agencies of Vietnam to properly implement inspection conclusions,” said Nguyen Lam Thanh, head of public policy of TikTok Vietnam, at a press briefing in Hanoi on October 5.
Thanh emphasized that TikTok would abide by the provisions of Vietnamese law when operating in the country. The social media platform has complied with many of the requests, and it takes time to respond to the remainder.
“TikTok will work to comply with the inspection team’s requests,” affirmed the TikTok Vietnam representative.
At the press briefing, Le Quang Tu Do, head of the Ministry of Information and Communication’s Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, revealed that TikTok’s violations in Vietnam were associated with its provision of social networking and e-commerce services, as well as child protection in the country.
Among the violations, TikTok has stored law-breaching information on CDN servers in Vietnam, including fake and distorted information that incites violence and social evils, or information that is harmful to children. It has yet to produce an effective content censorship process, making it easier for law-breaching contents to spread quickly on users’ interaction.
The social networking platform has yet to adopt measures or tools to ensure the safety of children’s confidential information and private life. It has still allowed children under 13 to open accounts even though it is only for people 13 years of age and older.
The inspection team also found TikTok’s violations regarding users’ rights, intellectual copyrights, and management of e-commerce services.
Notably, the inspection team said that those acts are of TikTok Singapore, not TikTok’s two legal entities in Vietnam – TikTok Office in Ho Chi Minh City and TikTok Technologies Vietnam Company Limited.
TikTok Ho Chi Minh City Office and TikTok Technologies Vietnam Company Limited have not directly engaged in the management and provision of cross-border services into Vietnam through TikTok.com and the TikTok application, the inspection team concluded.
The Ministry of Information and Communications had a working session with a representative of TikTok Singapore that also pledged to implement the inspection team’s requests.
In May Vietnamese authorities began conducting a thorough inspection of TikTok’s operations in Vietnam regarding concerns that the social networking platform spreads content which has negative consequences on public life, as well as the economy and society.
The inspection team made up of members of several relevant ministries and agencies originally planned to announce the results of the inspection in July but later delayed the plan, saying the social networking platform had yet to fully clarify its violations.
