Websites and social media platforms will have their licenses revoked if they commit violations.
(Baonghean.vn) - From April 15, 2018, general news websites and social networks may have their licenses suspended or revoked for violating legal regulations - this is one of the new provisions of Government Decree 27/2018/ND-CP issued on March 1, 2018.
Accordingly,if an organization or business violates the regulations.Points d, e, and f of Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 27/2018/ND-CP, and failure to meet the conditions stipulated in Clause 5, Article 23 of this Decree after being requested in writing by the licensing authority to rectify the situation, shall result in the licensing authority issuing a Decision to suspend the License for establishing a general electronic information website or the License for establishing a social network of that organization or enterprise. In cases of violations of the provisions in points a, b, and c of Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 27/2018/ND-CP or two instances of license suspension, the licensing authority will proceed to revoke the license for establishing a general electronic information website or the license for establishing a social network. This regulation aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of state management, serving as an effective tool to promptly prevent violations when they occur.
The new decree also adds several regulations on procedures for amending, supplementing, reissuing, and renewing licenses for establishing websites and social networks; and regulations on domain name requirements.
According to the old regulations, organizations and businesses wishing to change their head office address had to go through the procedure of amending and supplementing their license. Now, for licensed general information websites and social networks, when there is a change of ownership, the head office address only needs to be notified to the licensing authority within 10 working days from the date of the change.
The notification content includes: Name of the organization or business; license number for establishing a comprehensive electronic information website or social network; and details of the changes. Upon receiving the notification, the receiving agency is responsible for sending a confirmation letter to the organization or business within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the notification.
Regarding domain name requirements, from now on, websites and social networks must use at least one “.vn” domain name and store information on servers with IP addresses located in Vietnam; for international domain names, confirmation of legal domain name usage is required.
Besides adding some new content, Decree 27/2018/ND-CP also reduces many regulations on conditions and procedures to promote a free business environment. Six conditions in the field of general information websites and social networks have been eliminated, including: four conditions regarding personnel responsible for managing information content; one condition regarding the financial plan to ensure the establishment of equipment systems; and one condition specifying technical requirements for granting licenses to establish social networks.
Eliminate two procedures in the licensing process for establishing general information websites and social networks: A certified copy of a university degree or equivalent and a resume of the person responsible for content management, certified by a competent state agency, with a photograph and seal. Reduce two procedures in the licensing process for establishing general information websites and social networks: Instead of requiring certified copies of business registration documents (for enterprises), establishment decisions (for organizations), etc., only valid copies are required, including copies issued from the original register, certified copies, or copies compared with the originals of the aforementioned documents.
The Decree takes effect from April 15, 2018.