Read this subject in Vietnamese.
Vietjet Air, the largest private commercial airline in Vietnam, asked the mayor of Hanoi to take measures against people disseminating “false information” on the online company.
And the mayor does exactly that.
In a statement published on Monday by the Vietnamese government, the mayor Tran Sy Thanh ordered the relevant agencies to investigate and manage Facebook accounts responsible for the dissemination of “false information” on Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO billionaire of Vietjet.
The message on the official Facebook account of the government was however published to delete the reference to the CEO of high level of Vietjet.
This is not the first time that the government has been going after people for having published negative information on Thao, reputed to be the richest woman in Vietnam.
It has become the target of online lagging fishing earlier this year after a parody position makes fun of it and that the airline service has largely circulated on Vietnamese -language social media.
Later, two people who shared the position were subsequently summoned to the police station, where they were forced to admit reprehensible acts and to sign a commitment not to repeat their actions.
Vietjet Air is the largest low -cost carrier in the country, offering more affordable prices than the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines. However, the airline is often subject to criticisms of customer delays and dissatisfaction. It was also nicknamed the “Bikini Airline”, due to the advertisements featuring models in Bikinis to promote vacation destinations.
Thao is a well -known business manager in Vietnam. It was at the forefront of Vietnam's efforts to persuade the Trump administration to raise prices on Vietnamese exports to the United States, and in April joined the delegation that came to Washington for commercial negotiations.
Even before Donald Trump took office for his second term, Thao made the headlines with a personal meeting with him.
In January, Thao was seen on the golf course with the president of the elected era during a visit to Mar-A-Lago. The video of the meeting was widely shared on social networks in Vietnam, including on government accounts.
In the communist country, it is not uncommon for private companies to use the government to put pressure on criticism.
Vinfast, the famous automaker in the country, also pointed out to the police customers who say negative things on this online subject.
A Hanoi lawyer castigated the mayor's decision to ask the authorities to deal with Vietjet criticism.
“Because in his post as mayor, he represents the interests of all people in Hanoi, not the interests of a single company,” said lawyer at Radio Free Asia, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The lawyer added that the company “should use legal means to challenge those they deem to distribute defamatory declarations instead of asking the police and politicians to interfere”.
Edited by Mat Pennington.