On July 1, 2026, new rules took effect in Vietnam that penalize social media users(نافذة جديدة) who the government deems sharing fabricated or false information. In the weeks since, the Proton VPN Observatory has noticed a sharp increase in sign-ups for our VPN service (+150 over the baseline, and triple the figures we saw at the beginning of the month).
What’s notable is that signups began to spike on July 7, when the first reported fine(نافذة جديدة) under the decree (2.5 million VND against a man in Lào Cai province for a rude Facebook comment aimed at local police) was widely reported in local media.
What happened?
The Vietnamese government is now imposing fines on people who share what it defines as fake, false, distorted, or defamatory content on social media. The penalty structure has two tiers:
- 20–30 million VND (roughly $794–$1,190) for sharing content judged to harm the reputation of state agencies or organizations, or the honor and dignity of individuals. This is a category that also covers the posting of graphic, violent imagery, unauthorized sharing of copyrighted journalism or creative work, promoting banned goods or services, misrepresenting Vietnam’s territorial maps, or linking to content already banned under Vietnamese law.
- 30–50 million VND (roughly $1,190–$1,984) for content judged to distort history, deny “revolutionary achievements,” undermine national unity, insult religion, incite discrimination, leak state secrets or private information below the criminal threshold, or spread information that causes public panic or disrupts government operations (assuming it doesn’t already meet the bar for criminal prosecution).
Several of these categories, such as “undermines national unity,” “harms the reputation of organizations,” “causes public panic,” are highly ambiguous and and leave considerable room for interpretation. As one dissident publication(نافذة جديدة) put it, “police still decide the truth.”
Other contributing factors
Correlation, of course, is not the same as proven causation. Other less direct events that have likely contributed to such a steep rise in VPN signups include:
The “Chuyện với Thanh” case
A book by FPT co-founder Nguyễn Thành Nam, reinterpreting Hồ Chí Minh’s early life, was denounced in June as insulting the national leader. The publisher was fined and suspended before Nam and a colleague were criminally charged(نافذة جديدة) under Article 117 (anti-state propaganda). State TV confirmed the arrests on July 7.
Roblox VNG lockdown
Vietnam’s local Roblox(نافذة جديدة) version (run by publisher VNG) went fully live(نافذة جديدة) on August 13, 2026, blocking around 80% of games, disabling chat, and capping daily play at 3 hours. Unusually, it also prevented Vietnamese users from bypassing these restrictions by using a VPN to reach Roblox’ international servers.
No explanation has been provided as to why these changes have been made, but they may be linked to unease that Roblox could be used as a communications platform by those seeking to evade government scrutiny.
Unsurprisingly, this hasn’t gone well(نافذة جديدة). It should be noted, however, that while this incident may have helped to raise awareness of VPNs, VNG has gone to great lengths to ensure VPNs are of limited use for bypassing its restrictions.
An increasingly repressive regime
It is clear that the Vietnamese government is becoming increasingly intolerant of dissent — and consequently suspicious of social media and similar channels (like Roblox), over which it can spread.
As always, the best way to protect your online activity from government scrutiny and access the free international press is to use a reputable VPN. Use our internet censorship simulator to see which apps and online services are blocked around the world.
