On 10 December 2025, the National Assembly passed the new Law on Cybersecurity No. 116/2025/QH15 (“Law on Cybersecurity 2025”) to replace the current Law on Cybersecurity No. 24/2018/QH14, effective from 1 July 2026. Law on Cybersecurity 2025 represents a major overhaul of Vietnam’s digital legal framework, effectively consolidating and replacing both the Law on Cyber Information Security 2015 and the Law on Cybersecurity 2018. Major changes and new provisions:
- Stricter content moderation timelines: Law on Cybersecurity 2025 sets out golden hours for removing illegal content. In case of contents violating the regulations of the Law, such contents must be removed by service providers within 24 hours at the latest from the time of request by the Ministry of Public Security. In urgent cases, the removal must be made within 6 hours at the latest.
- More protection: The new Law gives more protection to information systems, especially those critical to national security. Notably, operators of information systems classified as critical to national security are required to conduct mandatory cybersecurity assessment, report and coordinate with cybersecurity taskforces on a continuous basis.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Law on Cybersecurity 2025 strictly prohibits using AI or new technologies to forge images, voices, or videos of others for illegal purposes.
- Protection of vulnerable groups: the new Law introduces provisions on child safety and platform responsibility where (i) parents or guardians must register accounts for children using value-added services online using their own information, and (ii) Service providers must implement technical measures to filter and prevent content that harms or exploits children.
- Data localization: Data localization requirement remains. However, it is clearer on which type of data must be retained (account names, service usage time, service fee payment information, access IP addresses, and other related data) and for how long after the user has finished using the service. It is expected that this requirement will be detailed further by a Decree issued by the Government.
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Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Oliver Massmann under [email protected] if you have any questions or want to know more details on the above. Dr. Oliver Massmann is the General Director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC.
