On the afternoon of July 24, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a consultation workshop on a draft decree amending and supplementing several provisions of Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP.
Under the draft, children under 16 would not be allowed to register social media accounts using their own personal information. Instead, accounts would have to be registered using the information of a parent or legal guardian.
Parents or guardians would be responsible for managing the content children access and the amount of time they spend on social media in accordance with their age. Domestic and foreign social media providers would also be required to implement technical measures to identify child users and deliver age-appropriate content.
The draft further proposes that child accounts be prohibited from posting content, commenting, interacting with other users, or reacting to posts. Platforms would be required to apply the highest level of privacy protection, proactively block harmful content, and cooperate with authorities by providing information when child abuse is detected.
At the workshop, Meta representatives said an outright ban on interactions by users under 16 could eliminate important behavioral signals that help systems identify underage users and apply appropriate safeguards. The company argued that such a restriction could encourage children to falsely declare their age to obtain standard accounts, preventing them from receiving protections specifically designed for minors.
Meta proposed replacing the blanket ban with age-based safety measures, including stronger privacy settings, harmful-content filtering, screen time limits, restrictions on messages from strangers, and parental supervision tools.
Regarding the proposal to suspend or close accounts belonging to users under 16 within 120 days, Meta said the timeline was too short to implement technical changes on a large scale and could result in system errors or the mistaken suspension of adult accounts.
The company cited Australia's experience, where platforms were given 12 months to prepare before age-limit regulations took effect.
TikTok also urged authorities to carefully consider the proposal to completely prohibit users under 16 from posting and interacting, taking into account broader goals of protecting and supporting children's development online.
The company said it has already introduced its "Family Pairing" feature, which links parent and child accounts to support supervision and child safety. TikTok also proposed a minimum preparation period of six months if product and infrastructure changes are required.
A representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council said policymakers should also recognize the positive effects of social media on children, including supporting learning, expanding knowledge, and strengthening social connections.
The council recommended removing the proposed account suspension and closure requirement and instead focusing on account management, privacy protection, content moderation, restricting contact from strangers, and providing parents with appropriate monitoring tools.
Speaking at the workshop, Le Quang Tu Do, Director General of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, said the proposal to restrict interactions was based on studies highlighting the risks of cyberbullying, psychological harm, and online fraud targeting children.
He said the drafting committee would revise the proposal to strike a balance between protecting children, defining the responsibilities of families, businesses, and regulators, and safeguarding children's rights to access information, learn, and participate in the digital environment.
