HANOI: Vietnam’s information minister said on Friday authorities had tightened regulations to deal with “false” content on social media platforms so that it must be taken down within 24 hours instead of 48 hours previously.
The new rules will enshrine Vietnam’s position as one of the world’s most stringently controlled regimes for social media firms and will strengthen the ruling Communist Party’s hand as it cracks down on “anti-state” activity.
Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung told parliament there was risk that “false news, if it is handled in a slow manner, will spread very widely.”
Reuters had previously reported government plans to bring in the new regulations, as well rules so that very sensitive information has to be taken down within three hours.
Most governments do not have laws imposing the taking down of content on social media firms, but Vietnam’s move comes amid intensifying crackdowns in some parts of the world on online content.
According to Hung, current penalties in Vietnam for posting and spreading misinformation were only one-tenth of the level imposed by Southeast Asian peers.
“The ministry will propose to the government an increase in administrative fines to a level that is high enough to deter the public,” he said.
Speaking to the legislature, Hung proposed by 2023 to completely deal with “News-lization,” a term used by authorities to describe when people are misled into thinking that social media accounts are authorized news outlets.
Reuters in September reported that the government was preparing rules to limit which social media accounts can post news-related content.
Vietnam, which is a $1 billion market for Facebook, has tightened Internet rules over the past few years, culminating in a cybersecurity law that came into effect in 2019 and national guidelines on social media behavior introduced in June last year.
Critics have raised concerns the laws could hand the authorities more power to crack down on dissidents.
Vietnam to require 24-hour take-down for ‘false’ social media content
https://arab.news/26k2r
Vietnam to require 24-hour take-down for ‘false’ social media content
- Legislation enshrine Vietnam’s position as one of the world’s most stringently controlled regimes for social media
Tunisian filmmaker wins $1 million global AI film contest in Dubai
- The French-language short film, “Lily,” was created entirely using Google’s generative AI tools
- The winning film was selected from 3,500 film submissions
DUBAI: Tunisian filmmaker Zoubeir Jlassi on Saturday won the inaugural $1 million AI film award, launched in collaboration with Google’s Gemini, for his short movie, “Lily.”
He was declared the winner in a ceremony held during the second day of the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai where Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, presented the award.
The French-language short film, “Lily,” created entirely using Google’s generative AI tools — including Gemini, Veo 3, Imagen and Flow — was named after the filmmaker’s daughter, who inspired the story.
The nine-minute film follows a lonely archivist haunted by a doll caught on his car bumper during a hit-and-run accident, forcing him to confront his guilt, confess to the police, and reunite the doll with the injured child in the hospital.
“My daughter has a doll, which is also called Lily. This doll lived with us through our moments of grievances, joy, and victories,” Jlassi told Arab News.
He said the film, which took a month to complete, portrays the doll as the protagonist’s silent witness and secretkeeper, ultimately prompting his moral awakening and bringing him back to life. The film’s message, he added, is that routine can dull self-awareness, preventing people from confronting their own truths and taking responsibility for their mistakes.
“With this film, I hope to inspire aspiring filmmakers to dream, take ideas from their archives, execute them and share them on their own platforms without relying on large production budgets or expensive equipment,” he told Arab News.
“This is the beauty of technology; it unleashes creativity without limits.”
The winning film was selected from 3,500 film submissions from 16 countries, with organizers saying the award aimed to encourage the use of AI in producing meaningful films and enhance the creators’ ability to deliver humanitarian stories.
It also looked to empower young people to leverage technology in boosting their creativity and creating artworks that bridge cultures.
The shortlisting process took place over multiple stages. A jury of international technology experts and filmmakers selected 12 films based on the storytelling originality, narrative structure, visual aesthetics, creative use of AI technologies, overall creativity, emotional impact, and adherence to transparency and ethical principles.
The five finalists were selected after public voting of the works selected by the jury, organizers said.
Each film had to be powered by at least 70 percent generative AI tools from Google — including Veo, Imagen and Flow — or third-party platforms that run on Gemini’s technology. The tech company said that the entries underwent advanced technical assessment and AI verification to ensure submissions met the criteria.
The remaining finalists were “Portrait No. 72” by Rodson Verr Suarez of the Philippines; “Cats Like Warmth” by South Korean director Lee Su Yeol; “Heal” by Egyptian director Mohamed Gomaa; and “The Translator” by US-based Pylyp Li.
The top five AI-generated short films were screened on the first day of the 1 Billion Followers Summit, a gathering of content creators aiming to explore how new media can drive positive change and fuel sustainable economic growth.
