Online safety & content laws in Vietnam (2026)
Online safety rules in Vietnam: heavy restriction.
Vietnam operates one of the most restrictive internet regulatory regimes in Southeast Asia, using a layered body of cybersecurity and platform laws to mandate content removal on government demand, prohibit anti-state online speech, require real-name user authentication, and compel data localisation. The December 2025 Law on Cybersecurity (No. 116/2025/QH15), effective July 2026, consolidates prior laws and expands Ministry of Public Security powers over digital identity and content policing. Major platforms including Meta and Google now comply with over 90-95% of Vietnamese government content-removal requests.
Legal framework
Law on Cybersecurity No. 116/2025/QH15 (effective 1 Jul 2026, consolidating Laws 86/2015 and 24/2018); Decree 147/2024/ND-CP on Internet Services and Online Information (effective 25 Dec 2024); Law on Personal Data Protection (effective 1 Jan 2026); Ministry of Information and Communications / Ministry of Public Security as co-regulators
Key points: internet & online safety in Vietnam
Law on Cybersecurity 2025 (No. 116/2025/QH15)
Passed by the National Assembly on 10 December 2025 with 91.75% approval and entering into force 1 July 2026, this eight-chapter, 45-article law consolidates the 2015 Cyber-Information Security Law and the 2018 Cybersecurity Law into a single framework. It grants the Ministry of Public Security lead authority over cybersecurity governance, digital ID verification, and removal of illegal online content.
Decree 147/2024, Platform Obligations
Effective 25 December 2024, Decree 147/2024/ND-CP requires social media platforms with ≥100,000 monthly Vietnamese visitors to authenticate users via Vietnamese phone numbers or national ID cards, store Vietnamese user data locally for a minimum of 24 months, provide data to authorities on demand, and remove content the government classifies as illegal within 24 hours (with a 90%+ compliance rate required for flagged content).
Anti-State Content Prohibitions and Censorship
The 2018 Cybersecurity Law (Article 16-17) and its 2025 successor broadly prohibit online content that criticises or opposes the Socialist Republic, 'distorts revolutionary history', undermines national unity, or spreads 'untruthful' information. Authorities can demand takedown within 24 hours; Facebook restricted 834 pieces of content in the latest reporting period, a reported 983% increase, and Meta and Google comply with approximately 95% and 90% of government requests respectively.
Age Verification and Child Protection
Decree 147/2024 requires parents or guardians to register and supervise social media accounts for children under 16. Decision 88/QD-BTTTT (2025) from the Ministry of Information and Communications further introduces content classification and identity-verification requirements for minors. The incoming Cybersecurity Law 2025 expands digital identity requirements that will apply to minor account registration from July 2026.
Personal Data Protection Law (effective Jan 2026)
Building on Decree 13/2023/ND-CP (Vietnam's first personal data protection decree, effective 1 July 2023), a new Law on Personal Data Protection entered into force on 1 January 2026. It expands obligations to foreign organisations processing Vietnamese citizens' data, mandates 72-hour breach notification, requires explicit consent as the primary legal basis for processing, and introduces stricter cross-border data transfer rules.
Platform Liability and Enforcement Record
Vietnam's Freedom on the Net 2025 report (Freedom House) rates the country 'Not Free', noting systematic blocking of politically sensitive websites, arrests for online speech, and coercion of platforms into compliance. The 2025 Cybersecurity Law further tightens liability by designating the Ministry of Public Security as lead cybersecurity enforcer with powers to compel platform cooperation on content identification and user data disclosure.
Timeline of decisions
- Law · officialDecree 147/2024/ND-CP: Sweeping New Internet and Social-Media Regulation
Replacing the decade-old Decree 72/2013, this decree (effective 25 December 2024) requires all social-media platforms to verify Vietnamese user accounts via national phone number or ID, mandates removal of government-designated illegal content within 24 hours, and extends data-localisation obligations to any foreign cross-border service attracting 100,000 or more monthly visits from Vietnam for six consecutive months.
Vietnam Law Magazine — Ministry of Justice
- Law · officialLaw on Cybersecurity (No. 24/2018/QH14) Enacted, Effective 1 January 2019
Vietnam's landmark cybersecurity statute required foreign internet companies to store data on Vietnamese users in-country, remove content on state request, and cooperate with authorities on investigations. The law drew widespread international criticism for broad restrictions on online speech and sparked public protests inside Vietnam; it became the central instrument for enforcement actions against dissidents until superseded in 2026.
LuatVietnam — Official Gazette of Vietnam
- DecisionDecree 72/2013/ND-CP: Foundational Internet and Online-Content Management Decree
The government's first comprehensive internet-governance instrument regulated internet services, social networks, online games, and blogs for over a decade; it banned posting content deemed harmful to national security, social order, or traditional Vietnamese values and required foreign platforms serving Vietnamese users to maintain at least one domestic server. Its longevity, and the enforcement controversies it generated, shaped the push for Decree 147/2024.
Tilleke & Gibbins
- Law · officialLaw on Information Technology (No. 67/2006/QH11) Enacted, Effective 1 January 2007
Vietnam's foundational IT statute established the first legal framework for electronic transactions, internet services, software, digital content, and network infrastructure. It set out rights and obligations for IT users and service providers and created the legislative baseline from which all subsequent internet safety, cybersecurity, and data-protection laws in Vietnam were developed.
WIPO Lex
Sources
- english.luatvietnam.vn/lawoncybersecurityno116-2025-qh15dateddecember102025ofthenationalasse
- economica.vn/Content/files/LAW%20&%20REG/Law%20on%20Cyber%20Security%202018.pdf
- vietnam-briefing.com/news/vietnams-new-internet-regulation-decree-147-2024.html/
- tilleke.com/insights/a-closer-look-at-vietnams-decree-147-on-internet-services-an
- hoganlovells.com/en/publications/vietnam-enacts-landmark-law-on-personal-data-protecti
- freedomhouse.org/country/vietnam/freedom-net/2025
- blogs.duanemorris.com/vietnam/2026/01/08/vietnam-law-on-cybersecurity-2026-what-you-must-kn
- biometricupdate.com/202601/vietnam-requires-social-media-platforms-enforce-age-identity-c
- hrw.org/news/2024/12/11/vietnam-repeal-harmful-internet-laws
- itif.org/publications/2025/06/02/vietnam-content-moderation-regulation/
- tilleke.com/insights/vietnam-issues-new-cybersecurity-law/
- jurist.org/news/2024/12/vietnam-enforces-new-internet-regulations-mandating-user
- advox.globalvoices.org/2025/01/07/vietnam-strengthens-control-of-internet-and-civil-society-
- dlapiper.com/en-us/insights/publications/crossroads-icr-insights/2023/vietnam-decr
- kpmg.com/vn/en/home/insights/2023/04/legal-alert-on-decree-13.html
- thevietnamese.org/2025/12/the-quiet-passing-of-viet-nams-2025-cybersecurity-law/
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Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026