Vietnam is weighing a plan that would prohibit social media platforms from permitting users under 16 to post content, comment, react, or engage with posts, according to local media citing a government draft decree.
The proposal received considerable input at a workshop organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in Hanoi.
The workshop united delegates from governmental bodies, companies, and global corporations. According to the proposal, children below 16 would be prohibited from creating social media accounts with their personal information. They would instead need to utilize information that belongs to a parent or legal guardian.
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Parents or guardians would have the duty of overseeing the content their children engage with and the duration of time they use social media. Providers of domestic and international social media services would need to implement technical measures to identify child users and provide content suitable for their age.
Platforms must implement the utmost privacy safeguards, take preventive measures against harmful content, and collaborate with authorities by sharing information upon identifying child abuse.
Nguyen Thao, a Meta spokesperson, mentioned that a total prohibition on interactions for those under 16 might hinder platforms from gathering behavioral cues essential for technical systems to determine users' ages and implement suitable safety protocols. The limitation might also lead children to inaccurately assert that they are older to access standard accounts, which would result in them losing protections meant exclusively for minors, she stated.
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Thao recommended substituting the outright ban on interactions with safety measures suitable for different ages, including enhanced privacy settings, filters for harmful content, limits on screen time, restrictions on messages from unknown individuals, and tools for supervising parents.
Concerning the suggestion to shut down or secure accounts of users under 16 within 120 days, Meta stated that the timeframe would be insufficient for making extensive technical adjustments, potentially causing system errors that might erroneously block adult accounts. The company stated that mass account closures might impact children's capacity to learn and connect with their families in Vietnam.
According to Meta, in Australia, platforms were allotted 12 months to get ready between the establishment of age restrictions and their actual enforcement. The company suggested substituting the mandate to close or deactivate accounts within 120 days with a requirement for platforms to consistently enhance their age-verification systems and regularly update authorities on the actions they have taken.
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The committee responsible for drafting will take into account the feedback and amend the draft to strike a balance between safeguarding children, the duties of families, businesses, and regulators, along with children's rights to obtain information, learn, and engage in the digital space.
Eighteen nations globally have officially acted, ready to introduce legislation or started strategizing to prohibit children from accessing social media. Recently, France enacted legislation that forbids social media access for individuals under 15 years old, scheduled to be implemented in September 2026.