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In the context of Facebook ad serving, the two archipelagos of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa were removed from the Vietnam map and included on the Chinese border.
On the afternoon of April 15, social media users discovered that Facebook had used a map to misrepresent the sovereignty of the Spratly and Paracel Islands. Specifically, in the ad creation section, if the area is defined as Vietnam, there will be no two islands on the map. But when defining China, two archipelagos appeared again.
Facebook used the same map two years ago and had to apologize to Vietnamese users for the problem.
Mr. Le Quang Tu, Deputy Director of the Department of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (Ministry of Information and Communications), said that the Department asked Facebook to fix it. “They have verified and reported that this is an error updating the map,” said Mr. Tu Do.
Vietnamese social media users are calling Facebook to correct the information. Many people turned to app reviews on the App Store and CH Play store to respond. The online community calls each other to “vote” 1 star for Facebook.
“Facebook is using the map Openstreetmap developed by a third party. This is an open map, editable information according to the source code. The current map was edited 4 days ago by account name Kalc“Cuong Nguyen’s account commented.
Soon after, another user entered the map, “bringing” Truong Sa and Hoang Sa back to the sovereignty of Vietnam, according to the international convention. However, on the morning of April 16, this section was revised again. Two islands no longer appear when the region is defined as Vietnam.
On the afternoon of April 16, a Facebook representative said that he had received information about the incorrect writing of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa maps in Chinese territory. “We were notified of a technical error related to the version used in advertising targeting tools in Vietnam. This issue has been fixed. We are sorry for any confusion. It has caused it,” said a Facebook spokesperson.
However, the Facebook update simply does not highlight the borders of nations. When choosing to identify Vietnam or China, both islands did not see the Spratly and Paracel islands. A Facebook spokesperson said: “Facebook maintains a neutral posture in disputed territories or other sensitive geographic areas.”
The Facebook update adds a description of not highlighting the country’s borders on the map, but it still doesn’t show Hoang Sa and Truong Sa when choosing Vietnam.
In early July 2018, Facebook also encountered the same error by incorrectly determining the Spratly and Paracel Islands of Vietnam. The representative of the social network admitted that it was a technical error and reviewed the map.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc once asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to direct and closely supervise the handling of Facebook, so that similar cases did not occur.
Khuong Nha
