New regulations on liabilities in social media usage effective from July 1, 2026

One of the notable contents of the Decree is the regulations on penalties for violations regarding liabilities in using social media platforms. This is considered an important legal basis to raise awareness and liabilities of organizations and individuals when engaging in cyberspace, and also, help prevent acts of exploiting social networks to violate the law.

Strengthening the effectiveness of State management, ensuring a safe and wholesome online environment

Fines of VND20 to VND30 million for many violations on social media

According to the Decree, individuals and organizations that use social media to commit the following acts will be fined from VND20,000,000 to VND30,000,000 VND:

Providing or sharing misinformation, distorted information, slander, defamation, or insulting the reputation of agencies, organizations, or the honor and dignity of individuals;

Providing or sharing information that promotes social evils, prostitution, human trafficking; posting obscene or depraved information; undermining the national customs and traditions, social morality, and public health, but not to the extent of criminal prosecution;

Providing or sharing information that meticulously describes acts of stabbing, killing, accidents, horror, or gruesome events;

Providing or sharing journalistic, literary, artistic, or published works without the consent of the intellectual property rights holder, or without permission for circulation, or after a decision to ban circulation or confiscate them;

Advertising, promoting, or sharing information about prohibited goods and services;

Providing or sharing images of maps of Vietnam that do not show or incorrectly depict national sovereignty;

Providing or sharing links to online information with prohibited content;

Using social media to produce content in the form of news reports, investigative reports, or journalistic interviews;

Press agencies failing to notify the authorities when establishing accounts, community pages, content channels, or community groups on domestic and international social media platforms as required by regulations; Account holders, content channel owners, community page owners, and community group administrators on social media who fail to prevent or remove information that violates the law, information affecting the legal rights and interests of other organizations and individuals, or information affecting children posted on their accounts, community pages, community groups, or content channels when requested by competent authorities.

Penalties of VND30 to VND50 million for serious offenses

The Decree also stipulates penalties of 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 VND for any of the following acts:

Providing or sharing information that distorts history, denies revolutionary achievements, undermines national unity, insults religion, discriminates on the basis of gender, or discriminates on the basis of race, but not to the extent of criminal prosecution;

Disclosing information classified as State secrets, personal privacy secrets, and other secrets that do not yet warrant criminal prosecution;

Providing or sharing misinformation that causes public panic, damages socio-economic activities, hinders the operation of State agencies or public officials, or infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of other agencies, organizations, or individuals, but does not yet warrant criminal prosecution;

Applying strict remedial measures

In addition to fines, the Decree also stipulates mandatory remedial measures for violating organizations and individuals, including:

Forcing the removal of misinformation, misleading information, or content that violates the law posted on social media.

Forcing the blocking of accounts, community pages, community groups, or content channels that commit violations as prescribed.