Netflix has complied with directions from the Ministry of Information and Communications–the MIC–to take down the video games it had available through its app in Vietnam. The request was made back in April with the MIC arguing Netflix was breaching the Cybersecurity Law. Specifically, according to VN Express, Netflix was in breach of Article 31 which requires foreign cross-border service providers to have a local office.
Netflix and the MIC have been at loggerheads for years now over compliance with the Cybersecurity Law with Netflix resisting demands from the MIC to open a local office. It’s not just Netflix either. The MIC wants all cross-border service providers to have a presence in Vietnam, ostensibly so that the ministry can better enforce its censorship agenda.
That said, these foreign firms, particularly US-based multinationals have been reluctant to comply well aware that a local office is likely to open them up to local prosecution. Of note, Tik-Tok did comply and was subsequently the subject of an investigation last year that found a number of breaches of MIC regulations which are vague and open to interpretation.
All of that said, Netflix taking down its video games may not be connected to this at all. Last week, the gaming platform Steam was taken offline, also technically because it didn’t have a local office. That said, it was suggested that this was at the urging of local video game companies who have recently been arguing that they are at a disadvantage due to their need to comply with Vietnamese law. That being the case, this could explain why Netflix has been told to remove its video games but not the rest of the cross-border television and film services it provides.
See also: Video Games in Vietnam: Cheat Sheet 2024