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According to a very popular theory, the French traditionally consider April 1st as the first day of spring and celebrate the New Year between March 25th and April 1st. Meanwhile, the concept of Poisson d'Avril – April Fool's Day – has a different origin. The poet d'Amerval was the first to introduce this concept, as April is the month of the Pisces zodiac sign, symbolized by two intertwined fish.
Although it's an international holiday, the perception of lying varies greatly from country to country. On April Fool's Day, people can freely lie to each other, but lies aren't always easily forgiven at any time of the day.
In Vietnam, April Fool's Day is also a popular day for people to play pranks on each other. On social media, "trolling" each other with false information is also common. However, with today's social media, the line between lying (for fun) and providing or spreading false information is very thin. Those who spread false information are held accountable under the law.
Decree 15/2020, which regulates administrative penalties in the fields of postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology, and electronic transactions, contains provisions that clearly define the levels of administrative penalties for acts of spreading false information and causing public panic on social media. Article 101 of Decree 15/2020 stipulates a fine of 10-20 million VND for the act of using social media to provide or share false information, untrue information, distorted information, slander, defamation, or insult the reputation of agencies, organizations, or the honor and dignity of individuals; providing or sharing fabricated information that causes public panic, incites violence, crime, social evils, gambling, or facilitates gambling.
Joking on April Fool's Day can result in fines of up to 15 million VND.
Acts of exploiting social media to provide and share information that promotes outdated customs, superstitions, obscenity, depravity, and is incompatible with the nation's traditions and customs; and providing and sharing information that meticulously describes acts of violence, murder, accidents, horror, and gruesome events will also be fined from 10 to 20 million VND.
In today's social media age, the appeal of spreading pranks that can fool thousands or millions of people is immense, but the consequences of excessive or malicious jokes also increase exponentially. Therefore, people should be even more vigilant to avoid going too far when joking with lies in the digital age.
In real life, too, a seemingly harmless scam can actually cause harm or accidents to others without your knowledge. There have been cases of people rushing into the streets in terror after being tricked into believing a relative was in an accident, only to end up being involved in real traffic accidents.
