Vietnam has just promulgated new Decree No. 14/2022/ND-CP ("Decree 14") providing for administrative sanctions in the fields of, among others, information technology and electronic transactions.

Specifically, on 27 January 2022, the Government released Decree 14 to amend and supplement several articles of:

  1. Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP prescribing penalties for administrative violations in postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology and electronic transactions; and
  2. Decree No. 119/2020/ND-CP prescribing penalties for administrative violations in journalistic and publishing activities.

Among other amendments, here is the epitome of some notable provisions that may be of business’s concern:

  • Temporary seizure of domain names: Under Decree 14, Vietnam competent authorities may temporarily seize the national domain name of Vietnam (“.vn”) and/or the international domain name allocated to organizations and individuals in Vietnam as an administrative penalty for different violating acts including, among others, the provision or sharing of links to online information with law-infringing content, as well as the advertisement, propaganda, or transaction of prohibited goods and services.
  • Video game services: Decree 14 supplemented administrative penalties for existing obligations in the video game services industry, e.g., penalties for the insufficient registration of personal information of players when providing G1 video games; or for the failure in locating the payment management system for video games in Vietnam, in connecting with a Vietnam’s enterprise that provides payment assisting services, or in enabling players to search for details of their payment accounts.
  • Anti-spam: Decree 14 supplemented administrative penalties for existing obligations in the activities of combatting spams, e.g., penalties for the failure in providing users with instructions on how to fight spam messages, spam calls, and spam emails; for sending or spreading spam emails, spam messages, or malware; or for making spam calls.

Specifically, on 27 January 2022, the Government released Decree 14 to amend and supplement several articles of: (i) Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP prescribing penalties for administrative violations in postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, information technology and electronic transactions; and (ii) Decree No. 119/2020/ND-CP prescribing penalties for administrative violations in journalistic and publishing activities.