Chinese AI short-drama apps lure Vietnamese viewers with free episodes, then demand payment at dramatic cliffhangers. Persistent ads on Facebook and TikTok draw users back, raising concerns over addictive viewing habits and unlicensed operations.
The growing presence of unlicensed AI short-drama applications operated by foreign companies, most of them from China, is raising concerns in Vietnam.
These include their potential influence on young people's perceptions, risks to cultural sovereignty and national security, and substantial financial outflows to overseas operators.
In this series, VietNamNet examines how these apps are spreading across Vietnam's digital landscape and explores ways to mitigate their impact on internet users.
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AI-generated short dramas can keep viewers hooked, encouraging repeated viewing and spending. Photo: Le My
Chinese AI short-drama apps typically follow a similar business model: viewers are initially offered several episodes free of charge, only to find themselves locked out just as the storyline reaches a dramatic climax.
To continue watching, users must register for paid accounts or purchase viewing packages. Payment options vary, ranging from individual episodes to weekly, monthly and annual subscriptions.
Many viewers recognize the tactic and decide to stop watching when asked to pay. Yet the apps employ techniques designed to sustain curiosity and encourage repeated viewing, making it difficult for some users to resist spending money.
Nhu Nhien, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, said she had paid for access to short-drama apps on three separate occasions. Although she had managed to stop watching at times, she eventually returned and paid again.
She explained that when a short drama reached the point where payment was required, she initially decided to abandon it.
However, after switching to other platforms such as Facebook and TikTok, she repeatedly encountered advertisements featuring the very episodes she had been watching.
What made these advertisements particularly tempting was that they often allowed her to watch much longer portions of the drama than the original app.
She would continue watching, only for the story to stop again at another dramatic moment, often just before the ending.
The repeated interruptions left her frustrated and eager to find out what happened next, eventually prompting her to return to the original app and pay to see the conclusion.
Hoang Tuan, another Ho Chi Minh City resident, described a similar experience, saying the AI-generated short dramas had become increasingly difficult to put down.
Living alone, he often spends his evenings watching short dramas after work whenever he is not out socializing with friends.
Initially, he assumed he would simply browse a few series and stop whenever an app demanded payment.
Instead, he found himself becoming increasingly absorbed in the content and eventually paying to continue watching.
"I just can't stop. These apps constantly release new dramas across all kinds of genres. Recently, they've been adding even more suspenseful, curiosity-driven stories that are incredibly hard to resist," he said. "Sometimes I decide to quit, but then an advertisement appears on another platform and makes me curious about what's new. Before I know it, I'm watching again. I've spent several million dong a month on these apps."
Cases like those of Nhien and Tuan are becoming increasingly common as short-video applications expand their presence in Vietnam.
Beyond the financial cost, concerns are growing about excessive viewing habits, with some users spending hours watching short dramas throughout the day and late into the night.
Health concerns over compulsive short-video viewing
Dr. Vo Don, a specialist physician at XKV Neurology Clinic in Ho Chi Minh City, warned that excessive consumption of short videos and AI-generated dramas could have significant consequences for mental and physical well-being.
According to Don, medical research has identified associations between problematic short-video use and adverse effects on cognitive and psychological functioning.
He said compulsive viewing habits may contribute to emotional distress and increase the risk of depression, generalized anxiety and social anxiety.
Another concern is the potential deterioration of concentration and attention span.
Young viewers who become accustomed to constantly changing, highly stimulating content may find it increasingly difficult to read lengthy texts or remain focused during lessons.
These difficulties can negatively affect academic performance and workplace productivity.
Sleep quality may also suffer.
Prolonged exposure to blue light from screens, combined with continuous mental stimulation, can aggravate insomnia and disrupt healthy sleep patterns.
Calls to block payments to unlicensed Chinese AI short-drama apps
Beyond concerns about viewing habits, the operation of unlicensed Chinese AI short-drama apps in Vietnam has raised questions about regulatory enforcement and the collection of payments from domestic users.
Vo Quoc Hung, growth director at Tonkin Agency, believes Vietnamese authorities have the tools needed to address the issue.
He said regulators should first issue warnings and provide guidance to app operators, requiring them to comply with Vietnamese law.
If the companies fail to cooperate, authorities could introduce stronger enforcement measures, including blocking payment channels.
Under this approach, payment service providers facilitating transactions for unlicensed applications would be required to stop processing them.
Hung argued that such measures could help prevent tax revenue losses while limiting money flowing overseas through unauthorized services.
He also suggested that authorities request cooperation from major technology platforms, including Google and Apple, to prevent unlicensed applications from being distributed in Vietnam.
According to Hung, international platforms have been cooperating effectively with the Vietnamese government on regulatory matters.
He noted that Decree 147, which governs the management, provision and use of internet services and online information, already contains detailed provisions addressing cross-border digital services operating without authorization in Vietnam.
Unauthorized payment networks are another area where enforcement could make a significant difference.
A representative of a domestic payment service provider said authorities could identify individuals and organizations facilitating illicit transactions through investigative and technical measures.
The representative estimated that taking action against just a few payment intermediaries could reduce the number of agents participating in unauthorized payment arrangements for AI short-drama apps by as much as 80-90%.
"When these unlicensed AI short-drama apps can no longer collect money from users, they will struggle to sustain their growth and will eventually have to withdraw from the domestic market," the representative said.
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