Speaking at a regular press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communications yesterday, Deputy Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen informed that users have been concerned about some livestream accounts on TikTok encouraging them to switch to external apps for fraudulent purposes.

Right after receiving reflections from users, the authority urgently requested TikTok to review, report and take strict measures to handle the situation.

TikTok has assigned its personnel to monitor the contents of these accounts.

Currently, the Ministry of Information and Communications is cooperating with TikTok to provide information and relevant data to transfer to the Ministry of Public Security for handling.

According to Deputy Head Nguyen Phong Nha of the Authority of Telecoms, using ‘junk’ SIM cards is one popular way to distribute spam messages and make spam calls. To completely stop this situation requires the joint hand of the whole society, especially organizations and businesses offering telecoms services.

Decree No.91/2020/ND-CP by the Government stipulates that marketing calls must be made by people of clear identity. Therefore, securities companies, real estate businesses, or insurance enterprises have to register for the use of the Voice Brandname service for advertising purposes when needed instead of hiring people who use unlawful advertising services.

To handle junk SIM cards, spam messages or calls, the Ministry of Information and Communications has developed a tool for citizens to find the exact number of SIM cards they own at present. The Telecoms Authority has been directed to cooperate with mobile network operators to adjust the content in the message sent to 1414 for this purpose. Until now, about 6 million messages have been sent to different mobile network carriers to check subscription information.

In this March, the Telecoms recorded about 1.62 million cases possessing from four to nine SIM cards, affecting 7.9 million SIM cards. About 1,200 subscribers have contacted their service providers to inquire about strange SIM cards they are supposed to own. Telecoms companies have used those feedback pieces to carry out the procedure of 1-way or 2-way locking for those cards with imprecise subscription information.

“From April 15, telecoms service businesses have full responsibilities if illegally registered SIM cards under their management are still in circulation on the market. There will be severe punishment to such cases (forbidding new subscription development, warnings, or punishments from the Prime Minister)”, said Deputy Head Nha.

SGGP