From a clip of a hospital worker allegedly threatening to administer a lethal injection to flippant behavior in front of solemn images of the search for and repatriation of fallen soldiers' remains, a series of recent incidents shows that some young people are compromising ethical standards in pursuit of attention on social media.
Behind such actions lies a broader question: What should families, schools, and the media do to help young people understand where to draw the line between creativity and deviance?
Chasing views at any cost
At the end of July, TikTok was rocked by a video showing two young people dressed as medical staff sitting at the reception desk of Duc Giang General Hospital in Hanoi and livestreaming a series of vulgar remarks, even threatening to “administer a lethal injection” to an account interacting with them.
Verification showed that the two were not hospital employees but medical students from Hanoi University of Business and Technology who were undertaking a summer internship. The hospital terminated their internship placements, while the university subsequently decided to suspend both students for one year as disciplinary action and launched a review of ethics education for all its students.
In another video, a female midwifery student at Hanoi Medical University boasted online about plans to retaliate against patients by placing their beds in secluded corners or deliberately missing the vein several times when drawing blood if she was scolded.
Such remarks, seemingly made “just for fun,” take on a far more serious meaning in the medical profession, where patients' trust in doctors and healthcare workers is paramount. They have become a difficult-to-heal blemish on the image of a generation of future healthcare professionals.
The line was crossed not only in terms of professional ethics but also in the realm of the nation's sacred values. On July 27, when the entire country was commemorating and paying tribute to fallen heroes and martyrs, three young people aged 19 to 22 in Ninh Binh province filmed a clip recreating a segment from the program “Bright Stars Guiding the Way – The Journey to Search for and Repatriate Fallen Soldiers' Remains” in a flippant manner, accompanied by inappropriate remarks and expressions.
All three subsequently took down the video and issued public apologies. Nevertheless, the incident continued to spark public outrage for touching upon the Vietnamese people's tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source", a longstanding Vietnamese tradition of honoring and remembering those who made sacrifices for future generations.
Not only ordinary social media users but also content creators with large followings have found themselves in trouble over careless remarks. TikToker Cuong Tay (Le Minh Cuong), whose channel has around 1.7 million followers, was recently fined VND12.5 million (US$478) by Phuc Loi Commune Police in Lao Cai Province for posting a video containing false information that undermined the reputation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. During a working session with authorities, he admitted that he had made the remarks merely “as a joke” and had no evidence to substantiate their accuracy.
Notably, such cases are far from isolated. Within a short period, authorities have summoned and fined a number of social media account holders for similar violations.
Do not let “digital norms” override social standards
Why are some young people, including many pursuing professions that demand high ethical standards, such as medicine and education, willing to sacrifice their own image for a few hours of going “viral” on social media?
Dr. Dao Le Hoa An, a psychology specialist and member of the Advisory Council on Policies and Laws concerning Adolescents and Children under the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union's Secretariat, said the root of the problem lies in the tendency among some young people to equate their self-worth with the level of attention they receive on social media, a mechanism known in psychology as “instant gratification.”
Every view, like, and share can trigger a sense of excitement, prompting users to push their content toward increasingly shocking territory in an effort to sustain that attention.
According to Dr. Dao Le Hoa An, addressing inappropriate remarks and behavior on social media is necessary, but the goal should go beyond stopping a violation to changing mindsets and preventing similar incidents from recurring. An apology is meaningful only when it stems from an understanding of the harm caused, rather than pressure from public opinion.
Alongside enforcement measures, violators should be given opportunities to confront the real-world consequences of their words and actions for individuals, communities, and society's sacred values.
At the same time, there should be no tendency to “label” or completely reject a person because of a single mistake. Firmness should be directed at the misconduct, while individuals should be given an opportunity to correct their mistakes, mature, and regain trust. The ultimate goal of education is not to create people who know how to apologize when criticized but to foster self-restraint to think carefully before making any statement.
Only when conscience becomes the first “moderator” before the post button is pressed can responsibility in the digital space be built from within and become truly sustainable.
Platform algorithms further reinforce this difficult cycle: content that evokes strong emotions, surprises, or controversy is often given greater visibility, inadvertently encouraging the notion that “the more shocking it is, the more viral it becomes, and the more viral it becomes, the more likely the behavior is to be repeated.
Meanwhile, the smartphone screen creates an “illusory buffer” that prevents people from directly seeing the pain or hurt their words may cause others, weakening their self-restraint and inherent capacity for empathy.
From the perspective of building a human value system, this issue was also raised at a scientific seminar on developing the human value system in Ho Chi Minh City, amid Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo on developing Vietnamese culture, which identifies building a system of Vietnamese human values as a key task.
Dr. Ha Thanh Van, Deputy Director of the Center for the Promotion of Vietnamese Culture and Arts, pointed to a worrying paradox: in today's “attention economy,” views, likes, and shares can be converted into money, fame, and advertising contracts. As a result, some users, including influencers, are willing to exploit scandals, make shocking statements, and crudely mock traditional cultural values simply to drive engagement.
According to Dr. Ha Thanh Van, as every citizen can now become a content producer, the boundary between private and public life is becoming increasingly blurred. This poses major challenges in terms of responsibility, verification capabilities, and ethical standards governing speech within the online community.
From the same perspective, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Quoc Thang, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Studies of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, said that when the boundary between right and wrong is shaped by “digital norms,” issues that inherently require solemnity — such as national history, the sacrifices of previous generations and professional ethics — are increasingly at risk of being turned into entertainment material.
This underscores an urgent requirement, in line with the spirit of Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW: mainstream press and media must strengthen their role in shaping values rather than being drawn into competition with social media. Families and schools must work together to equip young people with the ability to filter information and a strong sense of responsibility for every piece of content they publish.
Today's media is no longer limited to providing news, but is directly involved in shaping public awareness, influencing behavior, and establishing the framework of social values, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Quoc Thang said.
