Vietnam to Investigate TikTok Over 'Toxic' Content

 Western countries are already putting increasing pressure on the app on worries that Chinese officials could misuse or utilize user data for personal gain.

By Mehran Mazari

TikTok, the wildly popular video-sharing app created by Chinese entrepreneurs, will be investigated by Vietnam for any "toxic content" it may carry.

The communist regime places severe restrictions on the right to free speech and frequently represses critics of the government who gained popularity on social media platforms.

The authorities cited data from research firm DataReporter that suggested TikTok has 50 million users in Vietnam.

According to corporate data, it removed 1.7 million videos at the request of the Vietnamese government in the fourth quarter of last year because they were thought to be against official regulations.

Western countries are already putting increasing pressure on the app on worries that Chinese officials could misuse or utilize user data for personal gain.

This week, it was punished in the UK and prohibited from use on government equipment in Australia.

Le Quang Tu Do, the head of Vietnam's Radio, TV, and Electronic Information, announced that an "inter-ministerial" inspection of the business would be conducted in May.

According to Do, who spoke to reporters, "TikTok has no effective control measures over content which violates politics, against party and state, fake news, toxic content.

" He claimed that the lack of regulation "facilitated the spread of fake news, causing losses in economics and social instability." Do note that compared to other platforms, moderating content on the well-known Chinese-owned application that offers bite-sized films was "far more difficult."

Do stated that "tougher measures will be required to combat that content, removal alone is insufficient," adding that the ministry had requested that "cross-border platforms strictly follow Vietnamese laws."

According to TikTok, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information informed it in February that a government delegation will visit its operations in Vietnam in the second quarter. The AFP news agency contacted its Chinese owners, Bytedance, for comment, but they did not respond right away.

The UK's data regulator announced on Tuesday that it has penalized TikTok 12.7 million pounds ($15.9 million) for breaking its own regulations by allowing up to 1.4 million children under 13 to use the platform.