'La lanh dum la rach’ reflects one of the beautiful traditions of our nation. The spirit of mutual support and affection is always demonstrated through charitable activities. These activities represent a kind heart; however, a kind heart must be tied to charitable actions that come from the heart. The fundamental requirement of heartfelt charitable activities is the adherence to legal regulations on charitable activities.
I. Subjects eligible for charitable appeals
Clause 1, Article 2, Decree No. 93/2021/ND-CP stipulates that organizations and individuals eligible to call for charitable contributions include: '[...] Individuals with full civil act capacity participating in mobilizing, receiving, and distributing voluntary contributions to overcome difficulties caused by natural disasters, epidemics, incidents; and supporting patients with serious illnesses.
One issue that arises is whether a TikToker qualifies as an entity permitted to call for charitable contributions. A TikToker, as an individual, can still initiate charitable appeals. However, whether TikTok or any other social media platform can be considered a communication channel for charitable appeals has not yet been specifically regulated.
And not just any individual can freely call for charitable contributions; they must meet the conditions stipulated by law in Point h, Clause 1, Article 2, and Article 17 of Decree No. 93/2021/ND-CP: '1. When mobilizing, receiving, and distributing voluntary contributions to support disaster, epidemic, and incident relief, individuals are required to announce through media channels the purpose, scope, method, and form of mobilization, the receiving account (for money), the receiving location (for in-kind contributions), the time committed for distribution, and to send a written notice to the commune-level People's Committee of their residence, using the Notification Form issued with this Decree [...]
This regulation only addresses the mobilization, receipt, and distribution of voluntary contributions for disaster, epidemic, and incident relief [...]. Among the purposes of mobilizing, receiving, and distributing these contributions, there is no provision for supporting individuals in difficult circumstances.
II. Regulations on the penalties for actions related to charitable activities
Currently, there are only regulations for handling cases of misappropriating charitable funds. Specifically, both criminal and civil liabilities are imposed for such actions:
- For criminal liability, an individual or organization that collects donations but does not use the collected funds for the committed purpose, or misappropriates the funds for personal gain, may be charged with fraud and appropriation of property under Article 174 of the 2015 Criminal Code. If there is sufficient evidence to prove fraudulent behavior, the organizer may face criminal prosecution with a prison sentence ranging from 6 months to 3 years. If the misappropriated amount exceeds 500 million VND, the prison sentence can be up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
- For civil liability: the victims (donors) have the right to claim damages and request the organizer to return the donated funds.
However, for any criminal act, including fraud and misappropriation of assets through charitable appeals, preventive regulations and measures to stop the crime before it occurs must be emphasized, rather than only addressing it with criminal and civil sanctions after the crime has taken place. To enhance transparency and prevent the exploitation of charitable appeals for illegal profit, the law also includes regulations on ensuring accounting compliance in the declaration process when calling for charity, such as Circular No. 41/2022/TT-BTC guiding the accounting regime applied to social and charitable activities, and the Accounting Law of 2016.
Any individual who does not comply with the law will be subject to penalties. Regarding the crime of violating accounting regulations, the 2015 Criminal Code specifically addresses this in Article 221, which covers serious consequences resulting from violations of accounting regulations. However, the perpetrators of this crime are currently recognized only as individuals holding positions of authority. Consequently, KOL or influencers who commit fraudulent accounting practices and cause serious consequences in charitable activities are not yet recognized as subjects of this crime.
III. Some proposals and solutions.
In order to effectively prevent and minimize the exploitation of online charity appeals for illicit gain, the legal provisions regarding the subjects, conditions, and sanctions need to be supplemented.
In addition, state agencies need to closely cooperate in management tasks. For instance, the public posting of charity appeal content on electronic media must be closely monitored by interagency bodies such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Vietnam Fatherland Front.
On the other hand, until legal regulations are updated to align with the practical context of daily life, each citizen needs to take certain actions to not only protect themselves from disguised online charity appeals but also support the community in remaining vigilant against such actions.
First, citizens should investigate the origins of the charity appeal. Some activities that citizens can undertake to investigate the origins of the charity appeal include: researching the origins and verifying the information related to the person in need of assistance.
Second, citizens must immediately cease donations if there are any signs of suspicion. It is nearly impossible to provide specific indicators of fraudulent charity appeals due to the extremely sophisticated and unpredictable tactics of those committing fraud through charity activities. Therefore, if citizens feel that a charity appeal channel is unsafe, they should refrain from participating in charity activities or, if they are currently involved, they should terminate these activities immediately to avoid potential losses.
Nguyen Duc Tien
