According to its 2026 work program, the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation has tasked the Government with reviewing and researching technical solutions to link and integrate social media services with the VNeID system.

This integration must comply with domestic legal regulations and international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory. The goal is to boost account reliability, prevent identity fraud, and contribute to cybersecurity, information safety, and social order in cyberspace. These tasks are expected to be completed in Q3/2026.

Simultaneously, the Ministry of Public Security is assigned to research and propose the development of a Law on Electronic Identification and Authentication for the Government to submit to the National Assembly, seeking its inclusion in the 2026 law-making program. The Ministry will also develop a project to expand the national digital identity application VNeID, which will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

The VNeID application. Photo: Vu Tuan

The Ministry of Public Security will continue to lead the deployment of the National Public Service Portal on the National Data Center's infrastructure, the administrative procedure resolution coordination system, and the VNeID application. This ensures stable operation, meets access demands, and prevents congestion.

Ministries and sectors are collaborating to develop guidelines for selecting digital platforms capable of connecting, interoperating, and electronically authenticating identity with VNeID. This initiative aims to help citizens and businesses use a unified identification account for administrative procedures, rather than managing multiple different accounts.

In December 2025, the Party Central Committee Secretariat issued Directive 57, mandating identity verification for social media users, age verification to protect children, and enhanced management of cyberspace. The directive requires synchronized identification for citizens, social media users, telecommunications subscribers, and internet resources such as domain names and IP addresses.

Previously, Decree 147/2024 stipulated that social media service providers must authenticate accounts using a Vietnamese phone number. If a phone number cannot be used, authentication must be done via a personal identification number. Only authenticated accounts are permitted to post content, comment, livestream, or share information.

The Law on Personal Data Protection, effective from early 2026, also prohibits social media platforms from requiring users to provide images or videos containing all or part of their identity documents as an account authentication factor. Platforms must clearly inform users about the personal data being collected as soon as they install and use the service.

Vu Tuan