Vietnam media news covers a sector of the local economy that is growing rapidly despite a somewhat challenging regulatory environment. This section monitors those regulations as well as over-the-top services, sports, advertising, social media, and film and television industry developments.

Supply of slot machines in Vietnam close to outstripping demand: Gaming exec

the-shiv July 4, 2024

As a result, the gaming executive says that border closures and the subsequent reduction in tourists visiting Vietnam saw the market become oversaturated as the number of players fell significantly. He says the market has still not fully recovered and that many gaming clubs that took a financial hit during the pandemic are in need of further investment to get moving again…

Gambling in Vietnam: Foreign Investor Quick Read 2024

the-shiv June 20, 2024

Gambling in Vietnam is illegal but that doesn’t stop a sizable amount of betting occurring. This tends to peak around major sporting events. Recognising that this might be a problem, or perhaps that Vietnam is missing out on millions of dollars worth of tax revenue, there have been recent moves to try to legalise the practice. In this light, this cheat sheet runs through how gambling works in Vietnam, who can gamble, and the key regulations governing gambling that is already permitted…

Illegal Vietnam gambling sites sponsoring sports teams in Europe

the-shiv June 15, 2024

Gambling in Vietnam is illegal but is still rampant. There have been some attempts to legalise the practice, particularly sports betting, with guidelines for a pilot program legislated back in 2017, but no business has as yet taken up the opportunity. This is in large part due to very restrictive regulations that limit the size of a bet to VND 1 million or about US$42 and to just a handful of sports. A minimum capital contribution of VND 1 trillion or US$42 million is also required…

Esports match fixing highlights breadth of corruption in sports in Vietnam

the-shiv June 10, 2024

Professional sports leagues in Vietnam have struggled to develop on the back of limited investment and low pay for sports players that has resulted in players developing side hustles like match-fixing. More prominently, the Vietnamese Premier League was voted the third most corrupt league in the world back in 2016, and not much has been done to clean up Vietnamese soccer since–As recently as February, five players were charged for match fixing…

Tax from cross border service providers hits US$157.4 million in Vietnam so far this year

the-shiv June 10, 2024

This is perhaps most interesting in the context of Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law. Specifically, the law requires foreign firms to open a local office, which many of them have simply not done, hence, paying the aforementioned tax as a cross border service provider…

Video game platform Steam confirmed blocked in Vietnam

the-shiv June 2, 2024

There has been some speculation over the last few weeks that blocking Steam in Vietnam may have been blocked at the request of local game developers to protect the local industry. Whereas these comments from Le do not necessarily rule that out, he does claim that attempts were made to contact the company but received no response–ergo, this might just be a shot across the bow to get Steam’s attention.

Apple deleted 5,000+ Vietnam apps mostly for fraud, one at gov’t request

the-shiv May 23, 2024

Just one app was also removed in 2023 for beaching Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law. This law requires cross border service providers like streaming sites and online video game distributors to open local offices and store data locally. That said, with just one takedown request for the whole of last year (for comparison in China it was 1,285) enforcing this law in Vietnam looks to be shaping up as…

Vietnam real estate news outlet fined, licensed revoked for misquoting sources

the-shiv May 21, 2024

In Vietnam, the Law on Press distinguishes between different kinds of media outlets with varying degrees of newsgathering permitted and subsequently government control. CafeLand looks to have been licenced as an ‘electronic magazine’ which is, more-or-less, a trade publication. It had, however, per the assessment of the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City, extended its operations beyond its remit, becoming more like a news outlet and engaging in more extensive newsgathering.

Vietnam’s Creative Industries for Foreign Firms 2024

the-shiv May 20, 2024

Vietnam’s creative industries are not particularly well developed. Whereas creative industries make up about 5 to 10 percent of global GDP, in Vietnam that figure is only estimated to be about 3 percent. This is for a number of reasons, many of which foreign creatives and investors in creative industries

Vietnam tech-giant’s losses quadruple after audit

the-shiv May 16, 2024

VNG’s Zalo currently has about 72.5 million user accounts and its success has put VNG in the government’s good graces. This may speak to reports last week that the Steam gaming platform had been banned in Vietnam at the request of local game producers.

State media laments struggling Vietnamese films days after censors ban ‘gloomy’ local film

the-shiv May 16, 2024

This comes just days after it was reported that the locally produced film Viet and Nam, which is headed for the Cannes Film Festival, was banned from distribution by the Department of Cinema because of its ‘gloomy’ depiction of Vietnam.

Vietnam creative industries dealt another blow with Cannes-slated movie banned

the-shiv May 15, 2024

A Vietnamese film headed for Cannes has been denied a distribution licence by Vietnam’s Ministry of Communications on the grounds that it shows ‘a gloomy, deadlocked, and negative view’ of Vietnam, according to Screen Daily. This is another blow to Vietnam’s creative industries which are widely seen as underdeveloped, yet

World Poker Tour event in Vietnam scrapped on permitting failure

the-shiv May 14, 2024

A World Poker Tour event scheduled to be held in Hanoi has been cancelled amid reports organisers failed to acquire the necessary permits. Local media outlet, Dan Tri has said the Hanoi Department of Culture and Information and the police have been asked to review the event including if the

Video game distributor possibly banned in Vietnam at request of local game developers

the-shiv May 10, 2024

Video game distribution platform Steam is reportedly no longer available in Vietnam possibly at the request of local game developers, Game Developer is reporting. The article references an April 24 article published by Vietnam Net in which game developers lament that Steam does not need to conform to the same

Vietnam ranks 176th on World Press Freedom Index

the-shiv May 6, 2024

Vietnam has come in eighth to last on the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index beating out Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, and Turkmenistan. The report notes that Vietnam is the fourth biggest jailer of journalists in the world. In terms of economic development, the correlation between greater

Vietnam remains on US intellectual property infringement watchlist in 2024

the-shiv April 27, 2024

The Office of the United States Trade Representative has released its annual 401 Report which assesses intellectual property protections around the world. Vietnam has maintained its position on the body’s watchlist with a lack of prosecutions and weak law enforcement, the report says.

Vietnam IP Conviction ‘Minor Miracle’: Torrent Freak

the-shiv April 25, 2024

The People’s Court of Hanoi has sentenced a man to 30 months in prison–suspended–and issued him a fine of US$4000, for online piracy, Torrent Freak has reported. The publication describes the outcome as a ‘minor miracle’ with convictions of intellectual property infringements in Vietnam unusual. This outcome was four years

More fines in Vietnam over ads on videos featuring the nine-dash line

the-shiv April 21, 2024

Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication–the MIC–has fined an advertising firm just over US$2,000 for showing advertisements on videos on YouTube that contained the nine-dash line, VN Express has reported. This was the fourth fine since the start of last year for WPP Communications Company Limited–also known as GroupM. According

Netflix told to remove its video games from app stores in Vietnam

the-shiv April 12, 2024

Vietnam’s Ministry of Communication–the MIC–has told Netflix it will need to stop advertising its video games on its platform and will need to remove them from the Apple App store and Google Play store by April 15, according to a statement on its website. It is says that Netflix has

Provisions added to Vietnam’s Law on Bidding for sports betting operations

the-shiv March 3, 2024

From February 27 of this year, firms looking to take bets on international soccer in Vietnam will need to go through a bidding process, VN Express is reporting. Note that there are currently no legal sports betting businesses in Vietnam, however, there are provisions in several laws referring to the