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Vietnam is proposing restrictions on social media use for children under 16.[1] The proposed rules would bar young users from commenting, posting, sharing, or reacting on social media — they would only be able to use their accounts to view content.
With this, Vietnam could join the long list of countries such as Australia, France, Indonesia, and Malaysia, each of which has introduced similar regulatory bans and related penalties for violations.
Here's everything you need to know about Vietnam's proposed social media restrictions, why platforms are pushing back against them, and how they compare with similar social media safety changes being introduced around the world.
As reported by Reuters, the restrictions come from a draft decree from Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism filed on July 24, 2026.
According to the decree:
“The primary objective is not to ban or excessively restrict children's access to social media, but rather to ensure that when children use social media services, they are placed in an age-appropriate environment and protected from inappropriate risks," said Phan Tam, deputy culture minister.
The proposed rules also place additional obligations on social media platforms to identify child user accounts and ensure that they can access only age-appropriate content.
This includes blocking access to objectionable content related to drugs, pornography, gambling, violence, and similar material.
The same decree also proposes restrictions on gaming platforms. Game operators would need to verify a user’s age and register under-16 accounts through a parent or guardian.
Additionally, these accounts would be limited to 60 minutes of play per day for games provided by the same company. In effect, this would work like integrated parental control apps.
Various social media platforms have pushed back against Vietnam’s proposed rules.
For instance, Nguyen Lam Thanh, the head of TikTok Vietnam, told VNExpress that while it’s important to protect children online, a blanket ban on interaction should be reconsidered. He suggested that regulators should strengthen guardian oversight through technical measures instead of imposing a prohibition.
Similarly, Nguyen Thu Thao, Public Policy Director for Meta in Vietnam, said that the company already uses various behavioral indicators, patterns, and activities to identify child accounts. However, if children use social media only to view content, platforms would no longer have the behavioral data needed to identify and protect those child accounts.
Echoing this concern, Bui Thi Viet Lam, the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council’s representative in Vietnam, said that platforms use behavioral analysis, such as the kinds of accounts or content a teenager engages with, to identify underage users.
This helps overcome the limitations of self-declared birth dates, which many teenagers can easily falsify. She also highlighted the positive effects of social media, including facilitating social interaction and supporting academics.
However, Le Quang Tu Do, the head of the authority, said the government has been considering such restrictions because of two major risks:
That said, the decree is still under consideration, and the government is expected to make a decision after reviewing public feedback.
Vietnam isn’t the first country to consider restrictions on social media for teenagers. Australia introduced a complete ban on social media for children under 16, which took effect in December 2025.
The ban covers 10 social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Kick, Reddit, Threads, and X (Twitter). However, WhatsApp, YouTube Kids, and Google Classroom are exempt.
The law doesn’t place the obligation on children or parents to ensure they don’t use the restricted platforms. Instead, it imposes fines of up to AU$49.5 million on social media companies for violations. That maximum penalty was later doubled to AU$99 million on June 28, 2026.
Following the introduction of the law, Meta removed 544,052 under-16 accounts during the initial rollout.
France, on June 21, became the first European country to introduce a blanket ban on social media use for children under 15. The bill, supported and fast-tracked by Emmanuel Macron, was approved by both chambers of Parliament by an overwhelming majority.
The exact rules and platforms affected are still unknown, but the ban is set to come into effect "starting this school year." “The emotions of our children and our teenagers are not for sale or to be manipulated, neither by American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms,” said Emmanuel Macron on X.
Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to ban "high-risk" social media platforms for children under the age of 16 in March 2026. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Threads, Roblox, and Bigo Live were among those classified as "high risk" by the country's regulators.
Similarly, in June, Malaysia banned social media use for children under the age of 16. The rules apply to platforms with at least 8 million users, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Companies that fail to comply with the rules face penalties of up to $2.5 million.
Even the European Union is moving closer to what will be the world’s biggest social media crackdown on kids. In July 2026, an expert panel appointed by the European Commission recommended restricting access to most social media platforms for children under 13 unless supervised by a parent or caregiver.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Commission will review the recommendations and present a legislative proposal after the summer.
While protecting children from the harmful effects of social media is undoubtedly a priority, the way these restrictions are being implemented raises privacy concerns.
Many of the proposed rules — like in Vietnam’s case — place the responsibility on social media platforms to verify users' ages before granting access.
In practice, this could require parents or guardians to verify their own age using government-issued IDs, financial records, or dedicated age verification systems.
Depending on the platform or jurisdiction, age checks may also involve live selfies, biometric data, or credit card information. That's a significant amount of personal information to share simply to access online services.
While many age verification laws around the world prohibit companies from retaining unnecessary personally identifiable information, privacy advocates have long warned that these systems can create additional risks.
If this sensitive data were to fall into the wrong hands through a data breach or misuse, both parents and children could become targets for identity theft, phishing attacks, and other forms of fraud.
Vietnam has become the latest country to propose social media restrictions for teenagers.
If approved, users under 16 would only be able to view content from their social media accounts. They wouldn’t be allowed to interact by posting, sharing, commenting, or reacting on these platforms.
Similar to countries such as Australia and France, Vietnam also wants to place obligations on social media platforms to identify under-16 user accounts and apply these restrictions.
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