Power, Face, and Public Humiliation in Mass Communication: The Case of the “Tổng Tài” Incident in Hanoi (September 2025)

Abstract

This article analyzes the dynamics of mass communication surrounding the incident widely referred to in public opinion as the “Tổng Tài” case (a colloquial term used in Vietnamese online discourse to refer to a wealthy, powerful “CEO-like” figure, often with connotations of status display and authority), which occurred in Hanoi in September 2025. It does so from the perspectives of power, face, and public humiliation in the context of digital media. Adopting a qualitative research approach with a case study design, the study employs discourse analysis and content analysis to examine data from mainstream news media and social media platforms, focusing on the processes through which moral judgments of public opinion are formed, disseminated, and legitimized. The findings indicate that the initial conflict originated from a clash between positional power and legitimate power within an everyday interaction, leading to the collapse of an individual’s face once violent behavior was exposed in the online public sphere. Journalism and social media played a pivotal role in amplifying, legitimizing, and enacting public humiliation as an informal mechanism of social punishment. On this basis, the article proposes a “Power – Loss of Face – Public Humiliation” model to explain the dynamics of mass communication in Vietnam’s digital society. The study contributes an interdisciplinary analytical framework to communication research while also raising critical issues concerning media ethics, public opinion governance, and the limits of popular justice in the contemporary media environment.

Received: 30^th January, 2026; Revised: 17^th March, 2026; Accepted: 22^th April, 2026