Vietnam’s new anti-fake news decree includes fines of up to US$ 1,900
The measure levies penalties in social media starting 1 July, aimed at organisations, household businesses, and individuals. Fines are imposed for content that, among other things, deemed to cause panic, obstruct state agencies, and reveal state secrets. The latest crackdown on press freedom comes in the wake of similar action taken in late 2025, following Tô Lâm rise to power.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) – With decree No. 174/2026, the Vietnamese government is further cracking down on freedom of expression with administrative penalties against violations in postal services, telecommunications, e-transactions, and information technology.
The newly adopted measure, which will take effect on 1 July, does not specifically apply to the press, but imposes fines of up to US$ 1,900 for spreading “fake news” on social media, targeting organisations, household businesses, and individuals.
Where there is no criminal liability, fines are imposed for content that, according to the authorities, causes public panic, harms socioeconomic activity, impedes the functioning of state agencies or the activities of public officials, and violates the legitimate rights and interests of organisations or individuals.
Furthermore, the same measure covers state secrets and other protected information, as well as content that distorts history, denies the country’s revolutionary achievements, undermines national unity, insults religion, and promotes gender or racial discrimination. Content that explicitly depicts acts of violence is also targeted.
According to the new decree, the authorities will be able to request the removal of false, misleading, or illegal content as a corrective step. They will also be able to order the suspension of accounts, pages, groups, or channels that violate the law.
Among other things, the new rules cover the protection of intellectual property, and impose fines for the distribution of unauthorised materials. They also penalise the dissemination of maps of Vietnam that omit or misrepresent national sovereignty.
The decree follows a series of measures adopted in December 2025 that require journalists to disclose their sources to the authorities and arbitrarily expand the definition of state secrets.
A few months ago, Reporters without Borders (RsF) criticised growing state control over the media, which has been boosted since Tô Lâm became general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 2024 and president of Vietnam in 7 April 2026.
According to RsF, the Vietnam’s legal system is among the most repressive in the world. In particular, Articles 117 and 331 of the Penal Code prescribe heavy prison sentences for disseminating "propaganda against the State".
Late last year, in the run-up to the CPV’s 14th national congress in January 2026, such repression picked up.
Case in point. On 31 December 2025, a Vietnamese court sentenced in absentia Vietnamese-German journalist Trug Khoa Le to 17 years in prison under Article 117 of the Penal Code for publishing information and materials "for the purpose of opposing the state”.
Trug, 54, is the editor-in-chief of the Germany-based news website Thoibao and is currently under police protection in that country. He spoke to AsiaNews from Berlin in December 2025.
.png)
15/12/2020 09:40
