A noodle vendor in Vietnam, who shared videos on social media parodying Salt Bae, has reportedly been jailed for ‘anti-state propaganda’. The man, who was previously identified only as ‘Quan Kên’, has been identified by local media as thirty-year-old Nguyen Huu Quoc Quan.
According to reports, Quan was arrested on March 7 and sentenced to seven months in prison for “making, storing and spreading information and materials that aim to oppose the people’s government in online posts on his personal Facebook page.” The “information and materials” are believed to include Quan’s videos, which parodied the viral moves of food influencer ‘Salt Bae’, with Quan’s videos showing him cutting noodles and doing exaggerated martial arts moves.
Quan’s videos gained popularity among Vietnamese social media users but were also viewed as subversive by the authorities. He had previously been warned and fined by police for similar anti-state propaganda, before finally being sentenced to prison. Human rights organizations have criticised the Government of Vietnam for its use of laws restricting freedom of expression.