This morning, November 5, a fake document about the suspension of dine-in services at eating and drinking establishments across Da Nang was widely shared on social networks.

A fake document spread on social networks on Friday morning

According to the forged document, food and beverage stores in Da Nang will be banned from offering dine-in services to customers starting from midday on November 5 until further notice in an effort to stop the coronavirus spreading, and these venues will be only permitted to run takeaway and home-delivery services.

If you look closely enough at the fake document, you can see the issuance date of the document and the suspension date for on-site services being edited and their font is a far too different from the remaining font.

The spreading of misinformation on social media causes a great deal of confusion among the public, and severely impacts on the city’s pandemic prevention and control policy.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications Nguyen Thu Phuong said her unit is coordinating with functional bodies to quickly trace the origin of such fake document, and propose competent authorities to impose the maximum penalty for the offence.

She also asked local residents not to publish and share false information, as well as immediately report fake news spreaders to the authorities for timely handling.

Reporting by XUAN DUNG - Translating by M.D