What are the penalties for spreading sensitive images on social media?

1. What is the culture of depraved products?

According to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 3 of Decree 178/2004/ND-CP, "Pervert" is the expression by action, by image, by sound of playful lifestyle, lowly, evil, corrupt to the worst moral level, contrary to the pure customs and customs of the nation.

Thus, it is possible to understand the culture of depraved products as books, newspapers, movies, music,... and all other items containing depraved images and sounds, contrary to the pure customs and customs of the nation.

2. Rights of the individual to his/her image

The Civil Code of Vietnam stipulates the rights of individuals to images as follows:

- Each individual has rights with respect to his/her own image.

- The use of an image of an individual must have his/her consent.

- When an image of an individual is used for commercial purposes, that person is eligible for a remuneration, unless otherwise agreed.

- If the use of an image violates the regulation prescribed in this Article, the image’s owner has the right to request a court to issue a decision that compel the violator or relevant entities to revoke, destroy or terminate the use of the image, compensate for damage and adopt other measures as prescribed in law.

Article 34 of The Civil Code also provides:

"Honor, dignity and prestige of an individual is inviolable and protected by law."

Thus, according to the law of Vietnam, the right of individuals to their image is one of the personal rights respected and protected by the law, thereby also protecting the physical value of people, no one has the right to violate.

Individuals have the full right to use, publish,...for their images. However, if another person wants to use the image of an individual who needs his/her consent, if he/she arbitrarily uses it without the consent of the owner, he/she may be sued and forced to revoke, destroy, terminate the use of the image, compensate for damage and even be prosecuted for criminal liability in accordance with the law.

3. What are the penalties for spreading the culture of depraved products?

3.1. Administrative sanctions

Dissemination of decadent cultural products shall be administratively sanctioned in accordance with Article 101 of the Decree 15/2020/ND-CP as follows:

"A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) Providing or sharing fake information, untruthful information, misrepresenting, slandering or insulting the prestige of an agency or organization or the honor or dignity of an individual;

b) Providing and sharing ancient information about vulgarities, superstitions, superstitions, obscenity, depravity, inconsistencies with the customs and customs of the nation;"

Thus, spreading the culture of depraved products if not yet reached the level of being examined for penal liability will be administratively sanctioned in the form of a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 depending on the nature and extent of the act.

3.2. Criminal handling measures

The act of releasing sensitive images online may be criminally prosecuted for the following offenses:

4. The crime of spreading depraved culture (Article 326 of the Criminal Code 2015)

Article 326 of the Criminal Code of 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2017) provides for this crime as follows:

"1. Any person who makes, duplicates, publishes, transports, deals in, or stores books, magazines, pictures, films, music, or other items that contain pornographic contents for the purpose of distributing them or distributes pornographic materials in any of the following cases shall be a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence or 06 - 36 months' imprisonment:

...

This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 03 - 10 years' imprisonment:

...

This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 07 - 15 years' imprisonment:

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The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 5,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 or prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain jobs for 01 - 05 years."

Thus, based on the nature and severity of the act, the offenders may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to 15 years, in addition to a fine, a ban from practicing certain occupations or doing certain jobs.

5. Crime of humiliating another person (Article 155 of the Penal Code)

If the distribution of sensitive images is intended to humiliate or demean the honor and dignity of other people, they may be prosecuted for Humiliating other people.

Criminal law provides for this crime as follows:

"Any person who seriously insults another person shall receive a warning, be liable to a fine of VND 10,000,000 - VND 30,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years' community sentence.

This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 03 months - 2 years' imprisonment:

...

This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 0 - 05 years' imprisonment:

...

The offender might also be prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain jobs for 01 - 05 years."

When arbitrarily posting personal photos, victims can be severely affected in terms of honor, dignity and daily life.

Therefore, depending on the seriousness of the act and the degree of loss to the victim, the offender may be sentenced to up to 05 years of imprisonment and prohibited from holding certain positions, practicing certain occupations or doing certain jobs.

Judgment No.25/2021/HS-ST dated March 18, 2021 on the crime of humiliating others and spreading the culture of depraved products reads as follows:

"On September 28, 2019, I took personal information, the Facebook name"A93" of Ms. Ho Thi Anh T to register an account on the social network" Xvideos3.com ", about 02 weeks later, I took 06 videos of Ms. T and Ms. T having sex with each other and 01 video of Ms. T taking a shower, copied 01(one) short video into 02 (two) videos and used the account "A93" posted on the website"xvideos3.com". In addition, T goes to the social network "xvideos3.com" to upload 03 videos and many depraved pornographic images to the phone, then uses the account "A93" posted to the website "xvideos3.com"

The People's Court of Dong Xoai City, Binh Phuoc Province declares the defendant Le Tan T to be guilty of "Humiliating others" and "The crime of spreading depraved food culture". The combined sentence of 02 offenses, compelling the defendant Thanh to serve a combined sentence of 01 (one) year in prison.

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