Personal identification on social networks is not unique to Vietnam

Specifically, Decree 147 stipulates that social network users must provide basic personal information including full name, date of birth, mobile phone number in Vietnam or ID (if they do not have a phone number). Social networks must authenticate users via registered phone number or personal identification number.

Only authenticated social media accounts are allowed to provide information (write articles, comment, livestream) and share information on social media. Social network accounts that conduct livestreams for commercial purposes such as sales, if they generate revenue, must be authenticated by personal identification number.

The Decree stipulates that users are allowed to have their information protected according to the provisions of law, and must also be responsible for the content provided, stored, transmitted, and shared online; comply with specialized legal regulations when providing specialized services on social networks; comply with regulations on taxes and payments when there are business activities and generating revenue.

owners of channels/accounts/groups/community pages/fanpages on social networks in Vietnam have the right and responsibility to register to participate in training courses to disseminate legal regulations of the Ministry of Information and Communications, and are recommended to choose advertising; do not name channels/accounts/groups/community pages similar to or overlapping with press agencies or causing confusion with press agencies...

In addition, they are responsible for temporarily blocking or removing information that violates or affects the rights of other organizations and individuals no later than 48 hours upon request from social network users or no later than 24 hours upon receipt of a request from a competent State management agency. Do not take advantage of it to produce content in the form of reports, investigations, and press interviews. When livestreaming, it is necessary to comply with the provisions of this Decree and specialized regulations.

The social network environment, besides the positive factors, also contains the negative factors. Authentication of social media accounts is one of the effective and important measures to prevent and handle online fraud crimes and has the effect of repelling misperceptions of a part of internet users. The regulation on personal identification on social networks is not only in Vietnam but also in many governments around the world with the aim of protecting human rights against the negative impacts of social networks. Specifically, the Australian Senate passed a law on November 28, 2024 prohibiting people under 16 from using social media. Similarly, in 2023, France also proposed a ban on social media for children under 15 years old. In China, to get a social account, people must register with the authorities with the following contents: Real name, identity card number, real mobile phone number, etc.

In our country, social networks are developing rapidly, becoming an indispensable need for many people. According to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MOI), as of June 30, 2024, the number of monthly Zalo users was 76.5 million users; the number of Facebook users was 72 million, Youtube reached 63 million and Tiktok was 67 million users. Of which, the Zalo platform has more registered accounts than 3 cross-border platforms. Along with that, income from social networks is becoming a trend, it can be mentioned that by 2024, the revenue of the gaming industry is estimated to reach about 12,500 billion VND, the number of employees in the gaming industry in 2024 is estimated at about 4,100 people, an increase of 31% compared to 2023.

However, social networks are also a "fertile land" for many bad guys who take advantage of fake accounts to steal information, defraud and appropriate property or post bad content that negatively affects people's lives, causes insecurity, safety, violates social order and the law. Many localities across the country have recorded many new scams such as: Cutting images of doctors in some hospitals to impersonate, defrauding and appropriating property; inviting investors to participate in investment groups on social networks (ws account, Telegram, Zalo) with high interest rates; impersonating legal labor brokerage companies by creating fake websites or providing fake documents with lower labor export costs than normal and very high income then appropriating documents; impersonating state agency officials and organizations to defraud and appropriate people's assets. In addition, there are still cases of smuggled games and games supplied cross-border to Vietnam, affecting the healthy development of the domestic game market, creating unequal competition. From March 2024 to August 2024 alone, the authorities have disabled more than 400,000 websites and social media accounts suspected of online fraud...

Along with that, propaganda activities to distort and sabotage the Party and State are on the rise on social networks.Many organizations and individuals hostile and prejudiced towards Vietnam abroad are trying every way to incite and connect with domestic dissatisfactions through social networks to sabotage the country.
Currently, some social networking applications such as Facebok, Youtube, Zalo have also introduced standards that require participants to meet the minimum "owner" requirements such as participants providing phone number information, email...to verify and enhance security.Moreover, many social networks are popular with cross-border activities, creating significant challenges and obstacles, which is a problem that governments, including Vietnam, have found solutions for users of these platforms to comply with regulations, both satisfying personal interests and meeting social requirements.Therefore, the issuance of the Decree creates an important legal framework to require online platforms to effectively coordinate with authorities, while respecting and complying with Vietnamese law.

It is necessary to see that authenticating personal identification for social network users does not mean that everyone must publicly disclose their real names online, but only authenticating the identity of the account, and what is the right of each person to use the name or nickname.

In addition to limiting violations, personal identification also contributes to helping users improve their sense of responsibility when using social networks, limiting the situation of haphazard statements, bad, toxic information, untrue information...The decree was issued to contribute to pushing back the exploitation of social networks to fight against Vietnam.user authentication will facilitate authorities to detect and handle violations.With 100% of Vietnamese citizens having identification numbers or chip-embedded citizen identification cards, deploying identification on social networks will be convenient.Therefore, the Government issued Decree 147 to protect human rights, prevent deviant behavior in cyberspace, harm organizations, individuals, national interests, and the nation, and absolutely not " Suppress and suppress freedom of speech" as opposing forces, mossy reactions, and distortation.