The Department of Child Affairs under Vietnam's Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs has proposed relevant bodies remove a channel that broadcasts harmful content aimed at children from all social media platforms.

The child affairs department’s director Dang Hoa Nam said on Monday afternoon that the proposition was sent to the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Department of Cybersecurity and Hi-Tech Crime Prevention under the Ministry of Public Security.

Timmy TV, a content provider active on both Facebook and YouTube, has uploaded videos with content and images that are toxic, superstitious, creepy, and are unsuitable for children, affecting their healthy development, according to the proposition. 

The Department of Child Affairs thus requested the Authority of Information Security and the Department of Cybersecurity and Hi-Tech Crime Prevention to take Timmy TV down from the Internet and handle its creators and operators in accordance with regulations on child protection in cyberspace.

According to Nam, Timmy TV, which has been active since 2018 with 874 videos having been broadcast, is operated by a Vietnamese administrator, who is currently living in Ho Chi Minh City.

His department has recently received many parents’ reports that the channel provided many horror and superstitious content and images that are not suitable for the healthy development of children and can even lead to their improper behaviors and lack of life skills.

Nam affirmed that designated authorities had sufficient evidence and data to handle the violations of the Timmy TV channel. 

The child affairs department’s director also called on the community, parents, and children to dial 111 -- the national hotline for child protection -- for timely support whenever discovering content and images exhibiting signs of breaking rules about children protection and care.

Previously, Nguyen Thi Hong Tho, a woman from southern Binh Duong Province, was fined VND7.5 million (US$325) for posting superstitious clips on Tho Nguyen, a Vietnamese YouTube channel for children.

This channel then went inactive, with its administrator turning off the YouTube monetization feature for a short period.

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