Checking TikTok in Vietnam, what violations does this social network commit?

At the regular press conference in October 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications announced the inspection conclusion No. 08/KL-BTTTT on the comprehensive inspection of TikTok's operations in Vietnam based on the Inspection Results Report of the Inspection Team, dated September 29, 2023.

The subjects of the inspection are two legal entities of TikTok in Vietnam, specifically: TikTok Pte. Ltd Representative Office in Ho Chi Minh City (TikTok Office) and TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited (TikTok Vietnam Company).

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, TikTok Office and TikTok Vietnam Company do not directly participate in the management and provision of cross-border services into Vietnam through the TikTok.com website and TikTok application. The provision of cross-border services into Vietnam is directly managed and operated by TikTok Pte.Ltd (TikTok Singapore).

As for the e-commerce trading floor service, because TikTok Office carries out the registration procedure to establish a "Commercial Trading Floor" through the TikTok application under the authorization of TikTok Singapore, according to the regulations on e-commerce, TikTok Office must be jointly responsible for violations in providing this service according to the provisions of Vietnamese law.

TikTok Pte. Ltd (TikTok Singapore) is not the subject of inspection but is the unit that directly manages, operates, and provides cross-border services to Vietnam through the website TikTok.com and TikTok application.

Therefore, TikTok Singapore is the entity responsible for complying with Vietnamese law in providing cross-border services to Vietnam.

TikTokWhat has been violated?

The inspection team identified a number of violations by TikTok Singapore in providing cross-border services to Vietnam, including the following outstanding violations:

On providing social networking services, on child protection:

- Storing information that violates Vietnamese law on CDN servers in Vietnam, specifically: Fake information, distortion, inciting violence, inciting social evils; information harmful to children...

- The content censorship process is not effective, allowing many contents that violate Vietnamese law to pass through.

- There are no measures or tools to ensure the safety of children's private information; no messages are sent warning of risks when children provide or change their private information; no detection or removal of images, documents, or information that are inappropriate for children and affect their healthy development; no organization to receive information, evaluate, and classify according to the level of safety for children; still allowing children under 13 years old to open accounts even though the social networking platform is only for people aged 13 and over.

- No policy to protect user copyrighted content has been applied.

Regarding e-commerce service provision activities:

- Not publishing information about the application owner on the homepage of the TikTok Shop application as prescribed, violating the provisions at Point d, Clause 1, Article 62 of Decree No. 98/2020/ND-CP dated August 26, 2020 (amended at Point b, Clause 33, Article 3 of Decree No. 17/2022/ND-CP dated January 31, 2022).

- Not storing full seller information as required when registering to use the service.

- Not fully implementing inspection and supervision to ensure the provision of information about goods by sellers on e-commerce trading floors according to regulations.

Require TikTok to comply with Vietnamese law

Through the above violations, the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team requested the TikTok Office to take responsibility according to Vietnamese law for the provision of cross-border e-commerce trading floor services into Vietnam through the TikTok application. Along with that, the TikTok Office must be directly authorized by TikTok Singapore to participate in the management and provision of cross-border services into Vietnam.

Requesting TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited to be authorized by TikTok Singapore to directly participate in management activities and provide cross-border services to Vietnam.

Recommendations to relevant ministries and branches in implementing the Inspection Conclusion and strengthening management of TikTok Singapore's cross-border service provision activities into Vietnam.

The Ministry of Information and Communications must take measures to force TikTok Singapore to immediately correct the violations in providing social networking services and cross-border advertising services to Vietnam as pointed out in the Inspection Conclusion, specifically:

- Remove 100% of content that violates Vietnamese law and have solutions to prevent content that has been blocked from being re-posted; Add compliance with Vietnamese law to the Community Standards; Have periodic notifications to all TikTok users about compliance with Vietnamese law, strictly prohibit posting content that opposes the Party and State, violates Vietnamese law and warn about sanctions and handling measures if users post or share content that violates the law (depending on the level of violation, accounts may be temporarily locked, permanently deleted, etc.); Do not use algorithms to create trends or recommend to users content that violates Vietnamese law, completely prohibit political advertising with content that opposes the Party and State of Vietnam; Coordinate in providing information to verify and investigate violations of the law committed on the TikTok platform according to regulations.

- Implement measures to protect children online.

- Improve the content censorship system (especially for Livestream) to proactively prevent content that violates Vietnamese law on the TikTok platform (including technology, software, personnel, processes and censorship criteria); have specific and effective solutions to clean up its platform, limit fake news and toxic news.

- Authorize control of content on the TikTok platform in Vietnam to TikTok's legal entity in Vietnam (Representative Office or TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited) to effectively handle requests from State management agencies.

- Closely coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications and relevant agencies to manage content creators on the TikTok platform (KOL, KOC, artists...).

- Have agreements with Vietnamese press agencies when cooperating to distribute and share content on the basis of Vietnamese law on copyright.

The inspection team also requested the Ministry of Public Security to request TikTok Singapore to store Vietnamese users' data according to regulations and authorize TikTok's legal entity in Vietnam to ensure information safety and security according to Vietnamese regulations.

Monitor TikTok Singapore's implementation of storing Vietnamese users' data according to the Inspection Conclusion. Closely coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications in detecting, preventing, and handling violations of the law on the TikTok platform in Vietnam.

Along with that, the Inspection Team requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to take measures to force TikTok Singapore to immediately correct violations in providing cross-border e-commerce platform services to Vietnam; Update and provide full information on the application according to regulations; Supplement and complete the registration dossier for providing e-commerce services to TikTok Shop; Enhance responsibility for handling disputes and complaints of TikTok Shop in the Vietnamese market.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also needs to take appropriate measures to handle violations by TikTok Singapore and the Representative Office of TikTok Pte. Ltd in providing e-commerce platform services in Vietnam. Supervise the correction of violations in providing e-commerce platforms by the Representative Office and TikTok Singapore according to the Inspection Conclusion; strengthen supervision of e-commerce platform provision activities through the TikTok application in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs also needs to strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications to deploy solutions to protect children in the online environment; exploit and effectively operate the network to respond to and protect children in the online environment; monitor TikTok's compliance with the Law on Children and regulations of Vietnamese law related to preventing social evils in Vietnam.

The inspection team also requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications in managing people working in the arts on the TikTok platform; and monitor TikTok's compliance with Vietnamese law on copyright and related rights in Vietnam.