Three news sites in Vietnam have been fined a total VND80 million (USD3,570) for publishing articles with inappropriate content about convicted child sex offender comedian Minh Beo who has returned to Vietnam after serving nine months in jail in the US.

The decision was signed by Nguyen Thanh Lam, Director of the Administration of Radio, Television and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Minh Beo has returned to Vietnam after serving nine months in jail in the US

Kenh14.vn and Soha.vn, both run by Hanoi-based VC Corp were fined VND30 million (USD1,330) each and Baomoi.com, a website which specialises in gathering stories from different sources, was charged VND20 million (USD890).

The 38-year-old comedian Minh Beo was recently deported from the US after serving just nine months in jail after sexually molesting a 16-year-old boy and attempting to commit a lewd act on a child under 14.

These three websites have published many articles about the return of Minh Beo. He was puzzlingly given a warm welcome by fans and many artists on his return.

The sites have run stories about Minh Beo’s happy statuses on his Facebook page along with lots of his photos. He told fans that he was in good health and thanked them for their support, but made no admission or apology for his criminal action in the US.

Songwriter Nguyen Quoc Trung called on local artists to boycott Minh Beo. Trung’s comments saying that Minh Beo should not be allowed to participate in the entertainment industry received lots of support.