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| At the first meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Foreign Affairs and International Integration__Photo: vov.vn |
The new decree, which will take effect on July 1, 2026, places greater emphasis on digital platforms, cybersecurity, source verification and coordination in responding to false information about Vietnam.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Decree 72/2015/ND-CP has, over the past 10 years, served as the key legal basis for ministries, sectors and localities to carry out external information activities in a consistent manner, while setting out the main principles governing this field.
However, its implementation has also exposed a number of weaknesses. Human resources for external information work remain largely part-time and have not kept pace with increasing requirements. The work involves many agencies and organisations, leading to fragmentation and a lack of focus, while coordination among ministries and sectors is still sometimes overlapping and inconsistent.
External information activities also remain largely traditional. The potential of cyberspace and digital platforms has not been fully ulitised, and the effectiveness of activities has not been clearly measured. While technology has changed the way information is produced and delivered, existing regulations have not fully caught up with these changes.
The new decree is intended to improve the effectiveness of the state management of external information work and make it more suitable to the country’s current development needs. It seeks to combine management, coordination and administration with digital transformation, performance measurement and timely responses to fake news and false information about Vietnam. It also helps complete the legal framework for external information activities, ensuring consistency with the existing legal system and creating clearer rules for agencies, organisations and individuals involved in this field.
New principles for online external information activities
Decree 148/2026/ND-CP adds two new clauses to Article 3 of Decree 72/2015/ND-CP on the principles of external information activities.
Accordingly, external information activities will be governed by six principles.
First, they must comply with the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws, treaties to which Vietnam is a party, and, if carried out overseas, the laws, customs and practices of host countries.
Second, they must not harm national security, social order and safety, Vietnam’s reputation and image, diplomatic relations or international cooperation, and must ensure the protection of state secrets.
Third, they must not incite people to oppose the Vietnamese State, undermine national unity, incite violence, promote wars of aggression, or stir up hatred among ethnic groups or peoples of different countries.
Fourth, information must be accurate, timely and consistent with the Party’s and State’s guidelines on external information and communication in each period, as well as approved external information programmes and plans. Information must not be false, distorted or defamatory, or harm the honour of organisations or the honour, dignity and reputation of citizens.
Fifth, when external information activities are carried out in cyberspace, on social networks or online platforms, they must comply with legal requirements on information confidentiality, source verification and content control. They must also ensure information safety and cybersecurity, prevent the spread of fake news and false information about Vietnam, and comply with regulations on the management, provision and use of Internet services and online information, as well as regulations on the provision of information and online public services by state management agencies in cyberspace.
Sixth, external information activities must be carried out in coordination with relevant central agencies. These include the Central Steering Committee for External Information Work; the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation in providing communication orientation; Central Steering Committee 35, which is tasked with protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and countering distorted information as well as erroneous and hostile views across all fields; and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and mass organisations assigned relevant tasks by the Party and the State in mobilising resources for external information activities.
The two new principles are designed to ensure that external information activities on social networks and online platforms are subject to stricter requirements on confidentiality, source verification and content control. They also create a clearer legal basis for preventing the spread of fake news and false information about Vietnam, while clarifying the need for closer coordination among state agencies, Central Steering Committee 35 and socio-political organisations in countering distorted information.
Providing official information about Vietnam to the world
The decree also amends and supplements several provisions on the provision of official information about Vietnam, expanding the channels through which official information may be provided while stressing that information published in cyberspace must comply with cybersecurity and network information safety regulations.
Under the decree, official information about Vietnam includes information on the Party’s guidelines and policies, the State’s policies and laws, developments in different fields, Vietnamese history and other relevant information.
Official information about Vietnam may be provided through official statements at international events and forums, international and domestic press conferences, statements by senior leaders and state management agencies, and external activities of state management agencies.
It may also be provided through the external activities, statements, events, websites and other activities of Vietnamese representative missions abroad.
Another important channel is the press. Official information may be provided through press programmes and products on the mass media, official content channels and official applications in cyberspace of key press agencies, including the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnam the Television, and the Voice of Vietnam.
Official information may also be published on the Government Portal, the external information portal of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation, external information websites, portals and official online content channels of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees.
Notably, official information about Vietnam may also be provided through publications in Vietnamese and foreign languages issued by state agencies.
Bringing world developments to Vietnamese audiences
Decree 148/2026/ND-CP also revises the way information about the world situation is provided to Vietnam.
Under the decree, this information will be collected, compiled and provided to competent agencies, the press and Vietnamese people by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Vietnamese representative missions abroad, other Vietnamese agencies and organisations overseas, and key press agencies, including the Vietnam News Agency, the Vietnam Television, and the Voice of Vietnam, based on their law-prescribed functions, tasks and powers.
Sources of information include public and official foreign sources, lawful domestic and foreign databases, and information shared through co-ordination mechanisms among competent agencies in accordance with law.
The decree also adds a new method of providing information: through reports or at the request of competent agencies.
With these changes, Decree 148/2026/ND-CP is not only a management document but also a tool for renewing national communication methods. The new rules are expected to help Vietnam take a more proactive and co-ordinated approach in external information work, especially in the digital environment.- (VLLF)
