Vietnamese authorities fined Hua Quoc Anh, a Vietnamese makeup artist and content creator, $300 after claiming on TikTok that Cambodia's Angkor Wat was located in Thailand.
The video, with overlaid images of the Thai flag and royalty, was posted in TikTok on November 4.
Vietnam Fines Tiktoker Over Incorrect Angkor Wat Info
Anh posted a TikTok of his photoshoot at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, the second-largest city in Cambodia. He had posted a video on his TikTok account featuring a girl wearing a traditional Thai costume while walking around the Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap. The phrase "Hello, Thailand" could also be heard in the video.
According to Business Insider, the video was already deleted, but saw a screenshot of the video. On Wednesday, Anh was accused by the Vietnamese government of disseminating false information and insulting the reputation of agencies and organizations and the honor and dignity of individuals. According to the statement, he was fined 7.5 million Vietnamese dong, or $300.
The Vietnamese government said Anh was required to comply with relevant legal regulations when using the internet strictly and had to use it in a responsible, civilized, progressive manner. Vietnam's Department of Information and Communication did not immediately answer a request for comment from Business Insider.
"Right now, Quoc Anh has too many emotions in his heart that cannot be described in a few lines of text," Anh posted on Facebook on Wednesday. He added that he was safe after meeting with authorities.
In the same post, he included a photo of himself outside Vietnam's Department of Information and Communication in Ho Chi Minh City.
Anh has over 700,000 TikTok followers and over 250,000 Facebook followers, regularly uploading postings about his travels and photo shoots overseas.
The Japanese news agency Nikkei was informed by Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, that the episode was ridiculous.
Robertson said that no one really believed that Siem Reap belonged to Thailand. He noted that the appropriate step would have been to laugh at the TikToker's ignorance rather than resort to criminal penalties.
Social Media Influencers Arrested in Southeast Asia
Authorities in Southeast Asia have previously prosecuted individuals for posting recordings on social media. In September, Indonesia sentenced a woman to two years in jail after she posted a video saying an Islamic phrase and eating pork on TikTok.
Furthermore, a Singaporean lady was given a week in jail in November after sharing videos of her fiancé in a police station on TikTok.
According to CNN, Thai authorities were reportedly pursuing legal action against a Chinese social media influencer for allegedly flouting visa rules, days after she came under fire for a video she made that portrayed a famous Bangkok nightlife district as being unsafe for women.
