Summary of penalties for administrative violations in journalistic activities in Vietnam from December 1, 2020

Summary of penalties for administrative violations in journalistic activities in Vietnam from December 1, 2020 (Illustrative photo)

Article 3 Decree 119/2020/ND-CP stipulates that for each administrative violation in journalism and publishing activities, the violating individuals or organizations must bear one of the primary penalties, which is either a warning or a fine. Depending on the nature and extent of the violation, the individuals or organizations may also be subject to the following additional penalties:

- Revocation of permits for a certain period from 01 to 12 months, including: permits for print journalism, print magazines, radio, television, electronic newspapers, electronic magazines, permits for publishing additional publications, supplements, specialized pages permits, permits for providing paid radio and television services, permits for direct reception of foreign television signals from satellites, permits for producing program channels, import permits for print journalism, print magazines, permits for providing foreign program channels on paid radio and television services, permits for establishing general electronic information pages, permits for publishing bulletins, permits for special editions, permits for establishing publishing houses, permits for establishing representative offices of foreign publishing houses, or foreign publishing distribution organizations in Vietnam, permits for printing publication activities, permits for import and business of publication activities;

- Confiscation of materials and means of administrative violations;

- Suspension of activities for a certain period from 01 to 12 months.

In addition to the above penalties, the individuals or organizations committing administrative violations may also be subject to one or more of the following remedial measures:

- Mandatory correction and apology;

- Mandatory recall of journalistic products, journalistic information products, radio and television programs, publications that violate legal regulations;

- Mandatory removal of false information, information that violates legal regulations published on electronic newspapers, electronic magazines, general electronic information pages; mandatory removal of radio and television programs; mandatory removal of on-demand content, added value content, broadcasting applications on networks; mandatory removal of electronic publications violating legal regulations; mandatory removal of promotional content, links to electronic information pages containing content that violates the law;

- Mandatory submission of illegal gains obtained from administrative violations;

- Mandatory re-publication or re-broadcasting of the corrected content and apology;

- Mandatory full publication or broadcast of the conclusions of competent state authorities;

- Mandatory public apology;

- Mandatory press warehousing according to legal regulations;

- Mandatory warehousing and submission of journalistic products at the correct locations and quantities;

- Mandatory submission of warehoused or published products to the National Library of Vietnam as required;

- Mandatory return of illegally seized means and documents of journalists or reporters;

- Mandatory re-export of imported publications meant for conferences, international seminars in Vietnam permitted by Vietnamese competent authorities or for personal use by agencies, organizations, families, or individuals; mandatory re-export of imported print journalism and magazines not registered with the Ministry of Information and Communications before importation;

- Mandatory destruction of journalistic products, journalistic information products, radio and television programs, publications violating legal regulations;

- Mandatory removal of articles and posts on electronic newspapers, electronic magazines, radio and television programs containing content inconsistent with the purposes and objectives stated in the issued permits; mandatory removal of articles and posts inconsistent with the content stated in the permit for establishing general electronic information pages;

- Mandatory recall of domain names and Internet addresses (IP).

For more details, see Decree 119/2020/ND-CP, effective from December 1, 2020.

Le Vy

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