Man sentenced to 2 years in jail for false information on Facebook
In Vietnam, a man was sentenced to two years in jail after questionable information on his Facebook posts caused investor panic and a corporation’s value to plummet. The People’s Court of Nam Tu Liem district in Hanoi found the man guilty of “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate interests of the state, rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals.”
The 42 year old man was prosecuted under the Penal Code Article 331 claiming his Facebook posts harmed Gelex Group JSC. The man started posting on Facebook in 2019, sharing unverified information and his writings. The account grew a strong fan base, with 300,000 people following his account by April of this year according to Asia News Today.
The problem came when the man posted unverified information at the beginning of April and then later edited the post when the info was confirmed to make it seem like he had inside details in advance.
He posted on April 2 that the chairman of property developer Tan Hoang Minh had been arrested after he heard a rumour that several real estate and finance business leaders had been arrested. Once the information was officially confirmed and detailed on April 5, the man edited his Facebook post with that information.
The court ruled he intended to trick people into believing he had inside information to give him clout online. With his newfound legitimacy, the Facebook poster then claimed that Nguyen Van Tuan was under investigation. Nguyen is the Chairman of the Board and General Director of Gelex Group. He also serves as the Chairman of Viglacera Corporation.
He posted the unverified claims of the chairman being under investigation, sharing photos in two posts and saying the chairman will be arrested. As a result, there was a large sell-off of stock in the company and the value plummeted. The Facebook poster was sentenced to two years in jail for his inflammatory post leading to investor panic.
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