Regarding the image of Huấn “Hoa Hồng” going to assist the people in Central Vietnam appearing in a report of the program 24h News shared on social media, Vietnam Television confirmed that this clip is a fabricated product and requested the authorities to handle the case.
Immediately after discovering the issue and at the request of Vietnam Television, on October 25 and 26, 2020, the Internal Political Security Department – Ministry of Public Security summoned Bùi Xuân Huấn (also known as Huấn “Hoa Hồng”) to verify and clarify the posting and sharing of the fake news clip from 24h News on his personal Facebook page named “Huấn Hoa Hồng”.
During the meeting with the security authorities, Bùi Xuân Huấn admitted that he is the one who set up, operated, and managed the Facebook account “Huấn Hoa Hồng”. On October 23, 2020, the Facebook account “Huấn Hoa Hồng” posted a video clip featuring the logo of Vietnam Television reporting on Bùi Xuân Huấn providing assistance to the people in Central Vietnam.
Bùi Xuân Huấn acknowledged that his actions were wrong, affecting the image and reputation of Vietnam Television; violating legal regulations; and committed to facing all forms of penalties from the authorities. He also admitted that he had proactively removed the video from the “Huấn Hoa Hồng” Facebook account on October 24, 2020.
Currently, the Internal Political Security Department is consolidating the case file and coordinating with the relevant authorities to strictly handle the matter according to legal regulations.
The actions seriously affected the honor and reputation of VTV
According to some lawyers, Huấn “Hoa Hồng” has exploited the trust and credibility of the audience towards state agencies and organizations for personal purposes, which constitutes a violation of the law.
“In the case of using, interfering with video clips to make people trust, your actions are wrong. According to the Cybersecurity Law, Article 8 should be fined administratively at a level of 20 million VND. If administrative penalties continue, criminal handling will be considered,” said lawyer Hà Hải from Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association.
Meanwhile, lawyer Phan Vũ Tuấn stated that this is a very sophisticated copyright infringement act, with careful preparation. From changing the background behind the host to cutting and pasting the running text to maintain the original format of the report.
Lawyer Phan Vũ Tuấn – Vice Chairman of the Intellectual Property Association of Ho Chi Minh City believes: “This case seriously violates Articles 19 and 20 of the Intellectual Property Law and is clearly stated in Article 28 of the Intellectual Property Law regarding the act of distorting and editing works without the author’s permission, seriously affecting the honor and reputation of the author and the copyright holder, which in this case is VTV – Vietnam Television. This act also violates trademark law by using the VTV brand in a product not produced by VTV.”
According to lawyer Tuấn, this action also violates many different legal regulations. VTV will continue to work with the authorities to address this issue.