On 26 December 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 342/2025/ND-CP, detailing a number of articles of Law on Advertising as amended in 2025 (“Decree 342”). Decree 342 took effect on 15 February 2026.
Decree 342 specifically regulates many important aspects of advertising activities in Vietnam in both traditional and digital environments, providing several notable regulations related to online advertising management and user experience protection. Recently, many Internet users in Vietnam have expressed frustration with the proliferation of online advertisements that are difficult to disable or cannot be skipped, especially on video platforms. Therefore, the new regulations limiting advertising time and allowing users to disable ads are expected to contribute to resolving these issues. In addition, the prevalence of false advertising and the promotion of unverified products by some influencers also necessitates enhanced management in this field.
Some new regulations of Decree 342 can be summarized as follows:
1. Strengthening Management of Online Advertising in Non-Fixed Areas
According to Decree 342, “Advertising in non-fixed area” is defined as advertising displayed at non-fixed locations and times on online service interfaces, obscuring all or part of the main content and disrupting users’ access to information.
Decree 342 specifies the requirements for this type of advertising, including:
(a) The icon to close the advertisement must be clear and easy to operate, ensuring the advertisement is closed with only one interaction. Fake or difficult-to-recognize close icons that mislead users are not permitted.
(b) A waiting time for closing an advertisement is not allowed for static image advertisements. For advertisements in the form of a sequence of moving images or videos, the maximum waiting time is 5 seconds. This regulation is considered noteworthy, given that previously many advertising platforms forced users to watch ads for a relatively long time (usually 15-30 seconds or more) before they could close them;
(c) Entities engaged in advertising activities must provide icons and instructions on how users can report advertising content that violates the laws; as well as options to reject, close, or stop watching inappropriate advertisements.
2. Clearer Legal Responsibility Regulations for Online Advertising Platforms
Decree 342 clarifies the legal responsibility of social networks, search engines, and content sharing platforms. Accordingly, these advertising platforms must implement measures to control advertising contents and prevent or remove infringing advertisements upon request from competent authorities. Specifically:
(a) Advertisers, persons conducting business of advertising services, persons conveying advertising products, and advertising distributors participating in online advertising activities must implement or coordinate the blocking and removal of illegal advertisements within 24 hours from receipt of a written or electronic request from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (“MOCST”) or other competent authority as prescribed by specialized laws. For advertisements with content that infringes on national security, the blocking and removal must be done timely but no later than 24 hours from the time of issuing the request.
(b) Telecommunications enterprises and Internet service providers must implement necessary technical measures to block access to illegal advertisements or services within 24 hours from receipt of a request by telephone, in writing or by electronic means from the MOCST and Ministry of Public Security (“MOPS).
(c) Reports on illegal advertisements must be timely received and processed by the entities engaged in advertising activities; and the results must be communicated to the consumers in accordance with the laws.
If any entity fails to fulfill its responsibility to prevent or remove infringing advertisements as stipulated above, the MOCST and the MOPS may deploy technical measures to block infringing advertisements or services and take dealing measures in accordance with the laws.
3. Enhancing transparency in inbound advertising activities
To improve the management of inbound advertising activities, Decree 342 sets out a series of new requirements, including:
(a) Notification of contact information:
(i) Organizations and enterprises providing online advertising services in Vietnam (including domestic or foreign ones) must notify the MOCST of their contact information before commencing business operations in Vietnam (according to Form No. 03 in the Appendix accompanying Decree 342).
(ii) The notice thereof can be submitted directly, via postal service, electronically, or through the National Public Service Portal (“NPSP”). If submitted via the NPSP, the notice must bear digital signature in accordance with the laws on electronic transactions. Within 4 working days of receiving a valid notice, the MOCST will issue a confirmation of the notification. In case of changes to contact information, the organization or enterprise must re-perform the notification procedures and send its notice to the MOCST.
(b) Persons conducting business of advertising services, when establishing and operating intermediary digital platforms to provide services, must comply with the following regulations on transparency in online advertising activities:
(i) Displaying information for each specific advertisement, including: Name and address of the advertiser or the organization/individual authorized to purchase the advertisement;
(ii) When running advertisements through search engines, there must be a distinguishing mark between sponsored results and regular search results.
(c) For three years from the last date an advertisement was displayed, the person conducting business of online advertising service must fully store and ensure the accessibility of information and records regarding advertising activities, including information about the advertiser (name, address, business registration certificate or valid legal documents); the advertised product; the advertised product sample; the advertising service provision period; the advertisement placement; and related documents (contracts, agreements, documents related to the advertising product).
(d) Persons conducting business of online advertising services must submit annual periodic reports on their online advertising business activities in Vietnam (according to Form No. 04 in the Appendix accompanying Decree 342) to the MOCST no later than 25th November of each year, and also submit ad hoc reports when requested by the MOCST. Reports can be submitted directly, via postal service, electronically, or through the NPSP.
The aforementioned regulations are considered a significant step forward, given that many violating advertisements currently originate from platforms with servers located abroad, making inspection and enforcement difficult.
4. Reinforcing Management of Advertising Activities on Network-connected Display Screens
According to Decree 342, advertising on network-connected display screens (Light Emitting Diode (LED) screens, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens, screens in elevators, and similar forms) must comply with the laws on advertising, cybersecurity, and the management, provision, and use of Internet services and cyber-information.
For organizations and individuals conducting business of advertising services on network-connected display screens, Decree 342 clearly states their responsibilities in:
(a) Having technical solutions to enable advertising distributors and advertisers to control and remove infringing advertising products;
(b) Storing and providing to the local State management agency on advertising, upon request, information related to advertising products (quantity and name of the advertising product, advertised goods or services), advertising time and schedule, and the entity responsible for the advertising product.
(c) Preventing and removing information that violates the law as requested by the MOCST and other competent authorities as prescribed.
Furthermore, Decree 342 requires:
(a) Advertising using network-connected advertising screens in elevators must ensure that elevator safety requirements are not compromised.
(b) The installation and use of data-collecting devices on these screens may only be for statistical and analytical purposes regarding viewership, advertising reach, and may not collect or use personal data. If personal data is collected or processed, it must be implemented with the consent of the data subject and in compliance with the laws on personal data protection and privacy.
(c) Systems of network-connected advertising screens (meaning the gathering of two or more network-connected advertising screens managed by the same organization or individual and capable of remotely updating advertising content via network connection) must ensure the ability to record display history, and advertising time and content for inspection and compliance with cyber-information security regulations.
5. Tightening Regulations on Advertising Activities for Special Product Groups, Goods, and Services
Guiding Clause 4, Article 19 of the Law on Advertising, Decree 342 expands the list of special product groups, goods, and services from 8 groups (according to Government Decree No.181/2013/ND-CP dated 14 November 2013 (“Decree 181”)) to 11 groups.
The list of 11 groups includes: (i) Cosmetics; (ii) Food (cancelling Food Additives and Functional Foods according to Decree 181); (iii) Milk and nutritional products for infants not including breast milk substitutes for children under 24 months of age, nutritional supplements for children under 6 months of age; feeding bottles and artificial nipples; (iv) Chemicals; insecticides and disinfectants used in households and healthcare; (v) Medical devices; (vi) Medical examination and treatment services; (vii) Plant protection products, veterinary drugs, animal feed, aquatic feed, aquaculture environmental treatment products, livestock waste treatment products, aquatic species, livestock breeds and livestock breeding products (adding Aquatic feed, aquaculture environmental treatment products, livestock waste treatment products, aquatic species; and cancelling Plant protection raw materials, plant protection supplies, beneficial organisms used in plant protection; Veterinary supplies according to Decree 181); (viii) Fertilizers (cancelling Biological preparations for crop cultivation, biological preparations for livestock farming according to Decree 181); (ix) Plant varieties; (x) Medicines; and (xi) Alcoholic beverages, including spirits with an alcohol content of less than 15 degrees, beer and other alcoholic beverage products containing food-grade alcohol as prescribed (added in comparison with Decree 181).
At the same time, Decree 342 adds several specific requirements for advertising certain groups of products and services related to human health, including cosmetics, insecticides, disinfectants used in households and healthcare, medical devices, medical examination and treatment services, etc.
It can be seen that the new regulations of Decree 342 have been issued to enhance transparency in advertising activities; protect consumers’ rights; and limit misleading and false advertisements for products and services that directly affect human health and the environment.