A number of companies have used social networking, forums and blogs as
a way to defame their rivals, causing big losses for some.
The issue was highlighted at a meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City on
August 5, which attracted attorneys and business leaders.
There are around 29 million internet users in the country, accounting
for just under 34% of the population. And several businesses claim that their
rivals have taken advantage of this as a means to slander them.
Pham Gia Auto Mechanic Ltd. Co. is among the companies who have
complained about these practices. The Deputy General Director, Pham Truong Son,
said that negative talk on a forum called otosaigon.com reduced their business
revenues by 65%.
The business losses, Son says, are a result of an article that was
published on the website. Since, the company has apologised, but Son says that
the business has not fully recovered from the incident.
The forum manager of the site was fined VND25million (USD1,213).
According to Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, Kymdan Mattress Company has
claimed to be victims of the same type of slander. In April they noticed an
article claimed to have been written by a customer who smeared the quality of
product and the post-sale service on another site, yeutretho.com. Kymdan asked
them to remove the article believed to be false.
A number of electronic stores and mobile phone shops have reported
similar activities on blogs and internet forums. These articles, they say, pose
as being honest reviews of products and services, but are, in fact, of dubious
origin.
Web legislation
Hoang Kim Chien, an official from the Ministry of Justice, said fines
for actions of smearing businesses online are not strict enough. The highest
fine is VND100 million (USD4,854).
Chien said that the cooperation between enterprises and consumer
protection agencies is still weak, and that complicated legal procedures often
leads to businesses who are victims of online smear campaigns to negotiate with
violators instead of pressing on in the court system.
Source: Dtinews
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