Vietnamlawmagazine

Pham Minh Long, Pham Thi Cuc, and Nguyen Hoai An 

Vision & Associates[1]

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After more than 12 years of implementation, Advertising Law 16/2012/QH13, adopted by the National Assembly on June 21, 2012, and amended in 2018 (the 2012 Advertising Law), has provided a legal foundation for the advertising industry to develop in a public and transparent manner, particularly amid Vietnam’s deepening international economic integration. However, given the rapid evolution of advertising activities, improving the legal framework on advertising has become an urgent necessity.

On June 16, 2025, the National Assembly passed Law 75/2025/QH15, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2012 Advertising Law (the Amending Law), which will take effect on January 1, 2026. The revisions primarily aim to clarify the definition and scope of “advertising” and to specify the rights and obligations of “advertisement publishers” and “advertisement conveyors,” especially in light of the growing prevalence of online and cross-border advertising. In addition to revising certain provisions of the 2012 Advertising Law, the Amending Law also repeals Section 2, Chapter IV of the Commercial Law 36/2005/QH11 regarding commercial advertising (covering Articles 102 thru 116).

This article summarizes several notable amendments and supplements introduced by the Amending Law, comparing them with the 2012 Advertising Law to provide businesses with a clearer understanding from the perspective of various stakeholders governed by the advertising law.

Advertising

No longer confined to the “use of media” as defined under the 2012 Advertising Law, the term “advertising” in the Amending Law now encompasses also the “use of persons” to “present to advertisement recipients products, goods and services, or organizations and individuals engaged in the production and trade of such products, goods and services.” This provision reflects efforts to modernize the concept of advertising in line with actual industry developments, while clearly identifying the parties subject to regulation in cases of advertising conducted through influencers (including experts, reputable figures, and individuals capable of attracting public attention in specific fields, industries or professions, as stipulated in Article 3.9 of the 2023 Law on Protection of Consumers’ Rights) as well as through personal media platforms.

To align with the expanded definition of advertising, the Amending Law also revises related concepts such as “advertisement publisher” - meaning an organization or individual that uses advertisement conveyors or advertising media under its management to present advertising products; “advertisement conveyor” - referring to a person who directly delivers advertisements, recommendations, or confirmations of products, goods or services online, or who advertises by wearing, hanging, attaching, sticking, drawing, or using other forms for profit-making purposes as prescribed by the Government; and introduces a new concept “object of advertisement,” which refers to any item designed, placed or used for conveying advertising information.

For the first time, the Amending Law provides a clear definition of contents not regarded as advertising, including: (i) Materials, information and images used to describe products, goods and services, or products and goods provided by organizations or individuals for promotional activities, display, or introduction of goods and services at trade fairs or exhibitions; however, functional foods and foods for special dietary use must still comply with the law on food safety; and (ii) Contents required to be presented on product labels or packaging in accordance with the law on product labeling, except functional foods and foods for special dietary use, which must comply with the law on food safety; contents that must be disclosed and provided to customers and consumers; information, education, and communication materials on the prevention and control of harmful effects of goods; and other contents required or obligated to be disclosed under relevant laws.

Online advertising

To timely reflect the rapid evolution of advertising activities, the Amending Law introduces the concept of “online advertising,” which includes advertising on electronic newspapers, websites, social media platforms, online applications, and Internet-connected digital platforms.

Under the new provisions, online advertising must meet several key requirements. Advertising content must bear a clear identifying mark in the form of numerals, letters, symbols, images or sounds to distinguish it from non-advertising content. For non-fixed-position advertisements, there must be easily recognizable icons or features that allow recipients to disable ads, report violations to service providers, and refuse to view inappropriate content. Advertisements containing hyperlinks must ensure that the linked content complies with legal provisions, while advertising service providers and advertisement publishers are required to take measures to inspect and monitor such content. Social network service providers must also offer users features that help differentiate advertising content from other materials and social network users who engage in advertising are required to clearly indicate the distinction between advertisements or sponsored content and other content they provide.

Advertisers, advertising service providers, advertisement publishers, and advertisement conveyors engaged in online advertising, in addition to their general rights and obligations, are prohibited from placing ads within, next to, immediately after, or immediately before content that violates the law; from advertising on websites, social media platforms, online applications, or digital platforms that breach legal regulations; and from cooperating in advertising with organizations, individuals, websites, social media platforms, online applications, digital platforms, or social media accounts, content channels, or community pages or groups publicly announced by state authorities as violating the law. In addition, they must block or remove unlawful information and provide information on organizations and individuals related to online advertising activities showing signs of violations upon request by state authorities.

Meanwhile, online advertising service providers are required to notify their contact information to state authorities; verify the identity of advertisers and require them to provide business registration certificates or other valid legal documents; retain information and records on advertising activities and provide them upon request by state authorities; develop technical solutions to control and remove unlawful advertisements from their service systems; retain information on advertising distribution rules, methods and algorithms used for publishing online ads; establish mechanisms to receive and handle complaints related to online advertising services; ensure transparency in online advertising when establishing and operating intermediary digital platforms for service provision; and submit annual reports and ad hoc reports upon request by state authorities.

Moreover, organizations and individuals engaged in online advertising must block or remove violating advertisements within 24 hours, while telecommunications enterprises and Internet service providers are responsible for blocking unlawful advertisements upon request by state authorities.

Cross-border advertising

For the first time, the Amending Law introduces the concept “provision of cross-border advertising services in Vietnam.” Accordingly, when overseas organizations or individuals use systems of service-providing equipment located outside Vietnam’s territory to deliver advertising services to users in Vietnam via the Internet, such activities are deemed the provision of cross-border advertising services in Vietnam.

To ensure effective management of these activities and better protect the interests of Vietnamese consumers, the Amending Law maintains the requirement that foreign advertisers wishing to promote their products, goods, services, organizations or individuals through cross-border advertising in Vietnam must engage Vietnamese advertising service providers to carry out such activities.

Limits on advertising area and duration

The Amending Law doubles the maximum allowable advertising area in newspapers to 30 percent (from 15 percent) and in magazines to 40 percent (from 20 percent) to create more favorable conditions for press agencies to boost revenue in today’s competitive media landscape.

It also sets clear limits on the area of advertisements displayed alongside main content. When presenting ads together with primary information content in the form of running text or moving images, the advertising area must not exceed 10 percent of the total screen area - rather than a portion of the screen height as stipulated in the 2012 Advertising Law. In addition, advertising content must be clearly distinguishable from the program’s main content.

Meanwhile, the duration of advertising on radio, television and films is largely retained but adjusted for greater flexibility. Under the 2012 Advertising Law, each feature film could not be interrupted for advertisements more than twice, with each break not exceeding five minutes, while each entertainment program could not be interrupted more than four times, each break also capped at five minutes. The Amending Law provides more detailed provisions. Specifically, entertainment programs and films with a duration of less than five minutes are not permitted to contain any advertising interruptions; those lasting from five minutes to under 15 minutes may include one advertising break; and programs and films of 15 minutes or longer may include one additional advertising break for every full 15-minute segment, with each break not exceeding five minutes.

The Amending Law permits television stations and broadcasting service providers to transmit and broadcast live certain international events and foreign sports programs that already contain advertising information or images of products, goods or services. However, these stations and providers must possess valid broadcasting rights for live transmission in Vietnam; and may not enter into advertising contracts for the related products, goods or services or have any direct interest in the appearance of such advertising content. At the same time, they do not have control over the advertising content and are technically in capable of blurring inappropriate advertisements during the live broadcast. In such cases, they are required to issue warnings in both Vietnamese and English regarding inappropriate advertisements and request state authorities and relevant agencies or organizations to implement blocking measures to prevent Internet users in Vietnam from accessing websites offering those products, goods or services. Upon rebroadcasting, they must apply technical measures to blur inappropriate advertising content. In all cases, the advertising content must not be presented in Vietnamese.

Rights and obligations of advertisement conveyors

For the first time, the Amending Law clearly and comprehensively defines the rights and obligations of advertisement conveyors. Specifically, advertisement conveyors are entitled to be provided by advertisers with truthful, complete and accurate information about the organizations, individuals, products, goods and services being advertised, together with documents related to advertising conditions. They are also required to comply with the law on consumer protection and regulations on providing information concerning the features and quality of advertised products, goods and services; fulfill tax obligations arising from revenue generated through advertising services; provide documents related to advertising content at the request of state authorities; and bear legal responsibility if the advertising content fails to meet prescribed requirements, including cases involving false or misleading information.

Particularly, influencers who also act as advertisement conveyors are subject to additional obligations. They are required to verify the credibility of advertisers and review documents related to the advertised products, goods and services. If they have not personally used or do not clearly understand the products, goods or services, they may not introduce or promote them. In addition, they must give notice of the advertising activity immediately before and during the time the advertisement is presented.

Prohibitions in advertising

In addition to the prohibitions set forth in the 2012 Advertising Law, the Amending Law explicitly bans comparative advertising, which involves comparing one’s own products, goods or services with those of the same kind provided by another organization or individual without lawful substantiation.-

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