By Loan-Anh Pham, AsAmNews Associate Editor
Viet Fact Check knows the fight against misinformation will go on long after Election Day.
The project produces language accessible fact-checking content for the Vietnamese American community. Despite its recent formation in August, the organization gained significant traction across social media platforms.
According to Research Lead Nick Nguyen, the inspiration for Viet Fact Check stemmed from the realization that misinformation was permeating too many conversations in social media and in real life. Nguyen, a former technology executive based in Palo Alto, California, personally felt misinformation’s impact in conversations with his parents about George Floyd’s murder and Black Lives Matters protests.
“Being in the Silicon Valley, I spent 15 years of my career getting people to click on things, so I understand the mechanisms,” Nguyen said. “I could clearly see the damage.”
Nguyen reached out to nonprofit PIVOT (The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization) and published an article on identifying fake news in English and Vietnamese. Joining a group of like-minded individuals, Viet Fact Check grew from an idea to a team of over 40 volunteers, including writers, translators, and researchers. Its Instagram boasts more than 1200 followers.
“Our mission is to inform,” Nguyen told AsAmNews. “We’re not trying to advance our own personal progressive agenda. We’re trying to empower people with the knowledge they need.”
Curbing the spread of fake news with language-accessible articles
Strong partisanship plays a role in the spread of fake news, Thuy Vo-Dang said, as bitter debates, in turn, distract from discussions on important issues. Vo-Dang, the curator for UC Irvine’s Southeast Asian Archive, has spent decades studying the Vietnamese American community in Southern California.
One example includes widely-circulated photos of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden kneeling, Vo-Dang said. The photos were used to question Biden’s health and stamina.
“This is actually one of the arguments made against him, during protest, events or rallies,” Vo-Dang said. “People are saying he’s not strong, he can’t be president… You can’t vote for a guy who goes around kneeling… taking out of context what kneeling means.”
“I think that’s where the work of Viet Fact Check is so important right now,” Vo-Dang continued. “We need to present as much of the information as possible, about all the issues that might impact our community, from health care to education rights.”
Breaking down language barriers is a core component of Viet Fact Check’s work, Publicity Co-Lead Petrina Buiquy, said. It’s been a ‘constant learning process,’ Buiquy added, but taking the time to provide Vietnamese language articles builds trust among readers.
“ I thought I was pretty proficient [in Vietnamese],” Buiquy, a Seattle resident, said, “But in some instances, I’m just like, ‘Do I even know what the word for this is?’”
“[I’m] learning the word for ‘House of Representatives’ or ‘Senate,’” Buiquy added. “You never use that in your day-to-day life.”
Viet Fact Check’s primary audience is comprised of young, second generation Vietnamese Americans, Buiquy said. Resources like Viet Fact Check enable the younger generation to open conversations with the older generation.
“All of the topics that we’re planning to amplify are things that we know are really important to the older generation,” Buiquy said. “But then at the same time, we have to make sure that the vehicle [the younger generation] gets that information there.”
Leaving echo chambers for real-life conversations
Age certainly plays a role in what sources an individual will turn to, Vo-Dang told AsAmNews. For first generation Vietnamese immigrants, a myriad of ethnic media choices (especially in Orange County), means people like Vo-Dang’s parents rarely branch out to English language media.
“It was very clear to me that it’s the people closest to them, that they interact with daily or talk to daily, that are the most influential in how they think about everything, from COVID to politics,” Vo-Dang said.
The middle-aged ‘1.5 generation,’ Vo-Dang said, is technologically-savvy and more likely to obtain news via social media.
“I don’t think that they’re reading CNN,” Vo-Dang said. “For them, it’s social media, that kind of curated content that then creates the echo chambers.”
The generation’s support for the Trump administration, potentially stems from a class bias as well, Vo-Dang commented.
“They’re entrepreneurs. They’re the ones who opened nail salons and restaurants, and they run successful businesses,” Vo-Dang said. “In terms of these folks who either have achieved success or are desiring to be economically successful in the US… they subscribe to that American Dream narrative.”
These closely-knit generational circles impact the relationship within Vietnamese American families. For Christina Tran, the co-publicity lead for Viet Fact Check, conversations with her conservative parents generally end with the phrase, ‘Let’s not talk about this anymore.’
“When I have conversations about Trump, it usually kind of heats up,” Tran told AsAmNews. “Those kinds of conversations drove me to be involved with Viet Fact Check.”
“I can already see the impact of our social media and our website on people … in so many different states,” Tran, a Seattle resident, said. “I just want to make sure that people have the resources necessary to make more informed decisions when it comes to voting and to be able to have conversations with their families, because I wasn’t really able to.”
For Nguyen, Viet Fact Check’s dedicated team will undoubtedly continue its work.
“I don’t think any of of us believe that misinformation is going away,” Nguyen said. “There will be a Viet Fact Check after the election, and it will evolve.”
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