Vietnam social media regulation and influencer crackdown

Vietnam is evaluating new social media regulations aimed at protecting minors under 16. Proposed measures include technical solutions to prevent children from posting, commenting, or sharing content to mitigate risks such as financial scams, sexual predators, and radicalization.

These regulatory discussions are occurring alongside rising concerns regarding ‘online gangsters’—influencers who use provocative or aggressive behavior to gain notoriety and profit through livestreaming.

In response to these influencers, Vietnamese authorities have intensified crackdowns on prominent figures who use social media to flaunt wealth or make offensive statements. Law enforcement and officials have emphasized that digital popularity does not grant legal immunity, with calls for earlier intervention to prevent the monetization of toxic behavior before it reaches vulnerable youth.

Recent legal actions against specific figures, such as Phạm Tuấn and Phú Lê, highlight an intensifying effort to combat ‘giang hồ mạng’ (online gangsters) who utilize violent webdramas, shock statements, and displays of wealth to build followings. While authorities have arrested key individuals and removed original channels, a significant challenge persists: the rapid redistribution of ‘trash content’ by secondary accounts. These copies often bypass moderation and continue to accumulate millions of views. Consequently, experts and lawmakers are pointing to the role of social media algorithms in amplifying such content, calling for more proactive intervention to break the cycle of violation, fame, and monetization.