Netflix has removed episode one of the MH370 plane documentary film containing misinformation about Vietnam after receiving responses from the public as well as the authorities.
The documentary film “MH370: The Plane That Disappeared” broadcast on Netflix in recent days has faced opposition from the public for depicting and spreading misinformation about the contribution of the Vietnamese government in supporting the search and rescue of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
When accessing Netflix in Vietnam, episode one has been removed with the note "This episode has been removed at the request of the government", only episodes two and three remain. Photo: Screenshot on Netflix app
At a press conference on April 6 in Hanoi, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang said that the documentary film “MH370 - The plane disappeared” contained inaccurate and unfounded allegations and did not accurately represent Vietnam's efforts. The documentary ignored official conclusions made by local authorities and had caused frustration among the Vietnamese public.
She said that at the time of the accident, Vietnam's efforts in search and rescue were widely recognized by domestic and foreign press as well as the international community, especially the Malaysian government.
Therefore, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed: “We ask the production company and filmmaker to accurately reflect Vietnam's contributions to the search and rescue of Malaysia's MH370 aircraft, remove and modify inappropriate content”.
Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang at the regular press conference on the afternoon of April 6. Photo: cand.com.vn
After consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, on April 12, the Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, Mr. Le Quang Tu Do announced that the Authority had sent an official dispatch to request removal of misinformation about Vietnam in the film.
At noon on April 13, Netflix removed episode one containing misinformation about Vietnam from the Netflix Vietnam platform. Currently when accessing the series, the information displayed in episode one is “This episode removed by government demand”.
This is not the first time Netflix has been asked by Vietnamese authorities to remove content that offends Vietnamese history and sovereignty. Before that, a series of movies including Pine Gap, Put your head on my shoulder, and Madam Secretary were all reported with the same violation containing the illegal “nine-dash line” in the movie content. By October 2022, the film Little Women was removed from this platform for seriously distorting Vietnamese history.
Tony Pham
