Under the Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP dated 09 November 2024 (“Decree 147”) replacing Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP, foreign organizations and individuals providing cross-border information, app stores, games and social networks must comply with the provisions on licenses, reporting regimes and other regulations as follows:

Foreign organizations, enterprises and individuals providing cross-border information to service users in Vietnam which (a) lease storage space at data centers or (b) receive a total of 100,000 or more monthly visits from Vietnam for six consecutive months must comply with the following requirements:

• Notify contact information to the Ministry of Information and Communications;
• Inspect, monitor, prevent, and remove information, services, and apps that violate relevant laws upon request from competent authorities. The prevention and removal must be carried out within 24 hours from the time of the request;
• Enter into content cooperation agreements with Vietnamese press agencies;
• Store service user information and provide such information to state authorities upon request;
• Apply child protection measures;
• Have electronic tools to receive complaints and handle them within the stipulated timeframe;
• Provide tools for content searching and scanning upon the request of competent authorities;
• Carry out periodic or ad hoc reporting when requested in writing by competent authorities.

The offshore entity's local representative office or subsidiary in Vietnam (if any) is obliged to cooperate with competent authorities to handle illegal content, services and apps being provided across borders to users in Vietnam.

Offshore social networks are considered services provided by foreign organizations, enterprises and individuals across borders into Vietnam. Therefore, in addition to complying with regulations on cross-border information provision in general, the management of social networks must also fulfill the following obligations:

• Ensure that only verified accounts can post and share information on social networks;
• Verify social network accounts and notify contact information to the Ministry of Information and Communications before using the livestream feature or providing revenue-generating activities in any form;
• Temporarily or permanently block user accounts, community pages, community groups and content channels that frequently provide illegal content. Temporary blocking must be carried out within 24 hours of the request;
• Comply with the regulations on pay radio and television services if providing these services directly to users;
• Verify and attach verification symbols to the accounts, pages, and channels of state authorities, organizations, and enterprises with legal entities in Vietnam, as well as influencers, upon their request.

Foreign entities providing cross-border app stores in Vietnam must comply with the following obligations:

• Remove illegal apps upon request from competent authorities;
• Comply with Vietnamese payment laws;
• Require enterprises providing online electronic game services to players in Vietnam to submit the relevant licenses before uploading electronic games to the app store.

Foreign organizations and individuals providing online electronic game services to users in Vietnam, including cross-border services, must establish  a local enterprise in accordance with Vietnamese law.

Compared to the previous regulations, Decree 147 has added a classification of online electronic games for players aged 16 and over (16+). The classification of online electronic games by player age is one of the assessed contents. The classification results must be clearly displayed for players to recognize.

In addition to age classification, online electronic games are also categorized into G1/G2/G3/G4 depending on the interaction between the player and the game server system:

• For G1 electronic games: Enterprises are allowed to release them upon obtaining a License to provide G1 online electronic game services and a Decision to release G1 online electronic games.
• For G2, G3, G4 electronic games: Enterprises are allowed to release them upon obtaining a Certificate of providing G2, G3, G4 online electronic game services and a Confirmation on notification for the release of G2, G3, G4 online electronic games.

The issuance of Decree 147 is a significant effort by the Government to establish a management mechanism for cross-border services. Additionally, this Decree is improving legal framework  to protect information security and network security in the context of the strong development of information technology.

Dentons LuatViet acknowledges and thanks Junior Associate Khai Dang for his contribution to the article.