The new rules took effect on July 1 under Decree No. 174/2026/ND-CP, which governs administrative penalties in the postal and telecommunications sectors.

Under Article 95, which outlines violations related to the use of social media services, Clause k states that account holders, content channel owners, community page owners and administrators of community groups on social media may be fined between VND20 million and VND30 million (about US$765–1,145) if they fail to block or remove unlawful content, content affecting the legitimate rights and interests of organizations or individuals, or content harmful to children that is posted on their accounts, pages, groups or channels after receiving a request from a competent authority.

In practice, this means that not only personal account holders but also administrators of Facebook fan pages, Facebook groups and other community platforms may face penalties if they allow content that violates Vietnamese law to remain available.

The regulation covers a broad range of prohibited content, including false or fabricated information, misinformation, defamation, content damaging the reputation of government agencies or organizations or the honor and dignity of individuals, material promoting social evils, prostitution or human trafficking, obscene or pornographic content, and content considered harmful to national traditions, social ethics or public health, provided such acts do not constitute criminal offenses.

The same penalties also apply to content that graphically depicts killings, violent assaults, accidents or horror scenes; the unauthorized sharing of copyrighted journalism, literary or artistic works and publications without permission from rights holders or where circulation has been prohibited; advertising or promoting banned goods or services; publishing maps of Vietnam that omit or incorrectly represent national sovereignty; sharing links to prohibited online content; or using social media to produce content in the form of journalistic reports, investigations or interviews without authorization.

More severe penalties of up to VND50 million (US$1,910) may be imposed for sharing content that distorts history, denies revolutionary achievements, undermines national unity, insults religions, promotes gender discrimination or racial discrimination, where the conduct does not rise to the level of criminal prosecution.

The higher penalties also apply to disclosing state secrets, personal privacy or other protected confidential information without reaching the threshold for criminal liability, as well as publishing false information that causes public panic, harms socio-economic activities, disrupts the operations of government agencies or public officials, or infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of organizations or individuals.

In addition to financial penalties, violators may be ordered to remove false, misleading or otherwise unlawful content. Authorities may also require the suspension of offending accounts, community pages, community groups or content channels involved in the violations.

Le My