On the afternoon of 26/5, Le Anh Diep, 31, known as TikToker "Tang Keng Ong Trum", was convicted by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court. He was found guilty of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, legitimate rights, and interests of organizations and individuals," under Clause 2, Article 331 of the Penal Code.
Doan Quoc Viet, 23, known as TikToker "Du Bau Troi", received a 2-year prison sentence for the same offense.
The trial panel stated that the defendants' actions negatively impacted security and order, infringing upon State interests, and thus warranted strict penalties. The panel also recommended that the investigating agency continue to investigate and address individuals who interacted with the defendants' videos.
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Defendants Le Anh Diep (left) and Doan Quoc Viet at court. Photo: Binh Nguyen
In court, Diep admitted to the charges. He claimed he posted the derogatory videos targeting southerners on TikTok after an argument with his girlfriend while intoxicated. Expressing remorse, Diep stated he deleted the offensive videos the day after realizing his error.
In his final statement, TikToker "Tang Keng Ong Trum" apologized to southerners and requested leniency from the trial panel. Similarly, Viet admitted his wrongdoing, expressed remorse, and attributed his video posts to a state of frustration.
The court determined that Diep, observing others gaining fame on TikTok and noting the platform's lack of pre-publication content moderation, conceived the idea to create clips to attract attention.
On 8/10/2025, Diep filmed two videos on his phone featuring vulgar dialogue that promoted regional division between northern, central, and southern Vietnam. The videos also attacked disaster relief efforts for victims in northern provinces, negatively impacting the aid work. He uploaded these two videos to TikTok, where they quickly gained significant viewership, spread widely, and trended. The content sparked public outrage, leading to widespread condemnation and affecting cybersecurity.
Authorities confirmed that hundreds of TikTok accounts posted videos refuting and expressing anger at Diep's actions. The Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Department also received numerous requests for criminal prosecution from individuals and organizations, condemning the content of the two videos from the TikTok account "Tang Keng Ong Trum".
In mid-10/2025, after viewing Diep's videos on TikTok, Doan Quoc Viet commented, shared, and then recorded two of his own videos. These also featured vulgar dialogue and promoted regional division among northern, central, and southern Vietnam. The videos from both defendants subsequently garnered significant interaction and conflicting opinions, impacting cybersecurity and facilitating the spread of provocative and divisive content.
Official assessments by authorities confirmed that Diep's two videos contained content deemed "undermining national unity" under point c, Clause 1, Article 8, and "seriously insulting the honor, reputation, and dignity of others" under point a, Clause 3, Article 16 of the 2018 Cybersecurity Law.
Binh Nguyen
