NHỮNG LƯU Ý QUAN TRỌNG KHI SỬ DỤNG INTERNET VÀ THÔNG TIN TRÊN MẠNG THEO NGHỊ ĐỊNH 147/2024/NĐ-CP / I

The cyberspace environment has become a key area for security violations, criminal activities, the spread of false information, and the incitement of protests and social disorder. To prevent the increasing and difficult-to-control violations in cyberspace, on August 23, 2024, the Government issued Decree No. 147/2024/NĐ-CP, replacing Decree 72/2013/NĐ-CP and Decree 27/2018/NĐ-CP. This new decree, which regulates the management, provision, and use of internet services and online information, will take effect on December 25, 2024. Some notable points of the decree include:

First, users of social networking services must verify their accounts using a mobile phone number registered in Vietnam. Only verified social media accounts are allowed to post content.

One of the notable points in Decree No. 147/2024/NĐ-CP on the management, provision, and use of Internet services and online information, recently issued by the Government, is the mandatory requirement to verify social media accounts using mobile phone numbers. According to Point e, Clause 3, Article 23; Point b, Clause 3, Article 27; and Clause 10, Article 82 of the Decree, social media accounts must be verified with a mobile phone number to ensure that only authenticated accounts can post information (write articles, comment, livestream) and share content on social media. Only verified accounts are allowed to post, comment, livestream, or share information. This measure helps reduce fraud and misinformation online.

Accordingly, foreign organizations, enterprises, and individuals providing cross-border information services into Vietnam that either use data hosting services in Vietnam or have a total number of visits from Vietnam reaching 100,000 or more per month will be subject to specific responsibilities, such as: Cross-border information providers must verify social media service user accounts using a mobile phone number registered in Vietnam. In cases where users confirm that they do not have a Vietnamese mobile phone number, they must verify their accounts using a personal identification number in accordance with legal regulations on identification and electronic authentication.

In cases where social media users utilize the livestream feature for commercial purposes, foreign organizations, enterprises, and individuals providing social media services must verify accounts using a personal identification number.

According to Clause 10, Article 82 of Decree No. 147/2024/NĐ-CP, the verification of accounts for users of both cross-border and domestic social media services must be completed within 90 days from December 25, 2024.

Second, the classification of foreign and domestic social media.

Previously, both Decree No. 72/2013/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 27/2018/NĐ-CP did not distinguish among types of social media. However, the new decree specifically sets different conditions for domestic and foreign social media platforms. Point a, Clause 6, Article 24 of Decree No. 147/2024/NĐ-CP, which regulates the principles for managing electronic information pages, licensing, and social media management, mandates compliance with new regulations, including the classification of social media into domestic and foreign categories. Each type must adhere to specific management regulations accordingly.

Foreign social media platforms are provided cross-border into Vietnam by foreign organizations, enterprises, or individuals. The management of foreign social media is carried out in accordance with Article 23 of this Decree.

- Domestic social media platforms are provided by agencies, organizations, or enterprises with legal entity status in Vietnam, including:

+ Social media platforms with a large number of regular visitors: These are platforms that have a total number of regular visits (total visits) of at least 10,000 per month (based on an average statistic over six consecutive months) or more than 1,000 active users per month.

+ Social networks with low regular visits, referring to social networks with total regular visits in a month (average statistics for 6 consecutive months) of less than 10.000 visits or have less than 1.000 regular users in a month.

Third, children under 16 years old will register social media accounts using their parents' information.

Article 27 of this Decree specifies the conditions that domestic electronic information pages and social media platforms must meet regarding organization, personnel, and technical requirements. In addition to technical compliance, social media platforms must ensure the storage of user information from Vietnam upon account registration, receive and handle violation alerts from users, and detect and prevent illegal activities. The storage of user information from Vietnam during social media account registration must include: full name, date of birth, mobile phone number in Vietnam (or personal identification number). In cases where the user is a child (under 16 years old), the child's parent or legal guardian must register the account using their own information and is responsible for supervising and managing the content that the child accesses, posts, and shares on social media. 

If previously, many social media platforms set the minimum user age at 13 years old, children could still easily bypass moderation tools to register accounts on their own. However, under the new regulation, children under 16 years old will require parental consent and supervision. The responsibility for managing the content that children access, post, or share on social media falls on parents and guardians. This measure ensures that children do not encounter harmful or inappropriate content or engage in unsuitable activities.

Fourth, regulations on temporary or permanent social media account suspension.

Regarding the handling of social media accounts and community pages that frequently provide illegal content, the responsibility lies with domestic social media service providers as well as cross-border platforms, in accordance with Clause 7, Article 35 of Decree No. 147/2024/NĐ-CP.

Temporary suspension of social media accounts will be applied in the following cases: If an account provides illegal content at least five times within 30 days or at least ten times within 90 days, the Ministry of Information and Communications or the Ministry of Public Security will request its restriction or removal. Domestic and foreign organizations, enterprises, and individuals must temporarily suspend the violating accounts, pages, or community groups no later than 24 hours after receiving a written or electronic request from the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, or other competent authorities as stipulated by specialized laws. The temporary suspension period ranges from 7 to 30 days, depending on the frequency and severity of the violations.

Permanent suspension will be applied in the following cases: Upon request from the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, or other competent authorities as stipulated by specialized laws, foreign organizations, enterprises, and individuals must permanently suspend accounts, community pages, groups, or content channels, preventing users in Vietnam from accessing them if they post content that violates national security or have been temporarily suspended three or more times.

For agencies, organizations, and individuals providing social media services that fail to handle illegal content or services, or do not temporarily or permanently suspend accounts as required by law, the Ministry of Information and Communications will suspend their social media service operations or revoke their license/certification for providing social media services.

Fifth, social media account names must not resemble the names of press agencies and must not be used to produce content in the form of reports, investigations, or interviews.

Clause 7, Article 36 of this Decree stipulates the rights and obligations of users of both domestic social media services and cross-border social media services in Vietnam. Accordingly, account owners, content channel owners, community page owners, and community group administrators on social media are not allowed to name their accounts, pages, channels, or groups identically or similarly to the names of press agencies. They must also avoid using words (in Vietnamese or equivalent foreign languages) that may cause confusion with press agencies or journalistic activities, such as: newspaper, station, magazine, news, broadcasting, television, media, press agency, news agency, etc.

Additionally, this Article also stipulates that social media channel owners must not exploit social media platforms to produce content in the form of reports, investigations, or journalistic interviews.

Sixth, illegal content on social media accounts or unlawful applications must be removed within 24 or 48 hours.

Clause 7, Article 36 of this Decree stipulates that account owners and content channel owners are responsible for managing the content posted on their accounts, community pages, community groups, or content channels. They must prevent and remove illegal content, information that affects the legal rights and interests of organizations and individuals, and content harmful to children— including user comments—within a maximum of 24 hours upon request via phone, written notice, or electronic means from the Ministry of Information and Communications (Authority of Broadcasting, Television, and Electronic Information), the Ministry of Public Security (Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention), local Departments of Information and Communications, or other competent authorities as specified by specialized laws. For substantiated user complaints, the removal must be completed within a maximum of 48 hours.

Thus, it can be seen that Decree No. 147/2024/NĐ-CP, recently issued by the Government, establishes strict requirements for the management and verification of social media users' personal information. At the same time, it sets out specific regulations regarding the responsibilities of competent authorities in overseeing social media activities.