From July 1st, sharing false information on social media will be punishable by a fine of up to 50 million VND.

The government has just issued Decree No. 174/2026 stipulating administrative penalties for violations in the fields of postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, electronic transactions, and information technology. The decree takes effect from July 1st.

Violations of regulations regarding responsible use of social media services are subject to fines ranging from 20 to 30 million VND for acts of exploiting social media to commit any of the following offenses.

Specifically, the acts of providing or sharing false information, untrue information, distorted information, slander, defamation, or insulting the reputation of agencies, organizations, or the honor and dignity of individuals; providing or sharing information that promotes social evils, prostitution, or human trafficking; posting obscene or depraved information; and undermining the national customs and traditions, social morality, or public health, but not to the extent of criminal prosecution, are prohibited.

In addition, the above penalties also apply to the following acts: providing or sharing information that meticulously describes acts of stabbing, killing, accidents, horror, or gruesome events; providing or sharing journalistic, literary, artistic, or published works without the consent of the intellectual property rights holder, or which have not been authorized for circulation, or have been banned or confiscated; advertising, promoting, or sharing information about prohibited goods or services...

This penalty also applies if account holders, content channel owners, community page owners, or community group administrators on social media fail to prevent or remove information that violates the law when requested by competent authorities.

Fines ranging from 30 to 50 million VND will be imposed for providing or sharing information that distorts history, denies revolutionary achievements, undermines national unity, insults religion, discriminates on the basis of gender, or is racist, but does not yet warrant criminal prosecution.

Fines of 30-50 million VND also apply to acts of disclosing information classified as state secrets, personal privacy secrets, and other secrets that do not yet warrant criminal prosecution; providing or sharing false information that causes public panic, damages socio-economic activities, or hinders the operation of state agencies or public officials.