Request to prevent illegal gambling and betting advertisements on television

On the abei.gov.vn electronic information portal, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (Ministry of Information and Communications) said that on April 19, this agency issued a document requesting radio and television stations, television units and businesses providing pay-TV services to immediately implement a number of measures. The purpose is to ensure that the content on the radio and television system nationwide is strictly controlled, not allowing information, images, advertisements, service promotions, betting, betting, and online gambling activities that violate Vietnamese law to appear.

At the same time, the implementation of measures by stations, units and enterprises operating in the field of radio and television is also to strictly implement Directive 16 dated May 27, 2023 of the Prime Minister on strengthening the prevention and combat of crimes and violations of the law related to gambling organization and gambling.

Specifically, according to the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, to serve the entertainment needs of sports-loving audiences, Vietnamese units and enterprises are increasingly implementing activities to purchase copyrights for foreign sports programs, especially major international football tournaments, to broadcast on pay TV channels and pay TV and radio service systems on the Internet.

However, a recent situation has arisen that in the broadcast signal of live broadcast programs, there appear advertising images of electronic information pages (websites) providing online betting and betting services during the match and directly reaching Vietnamese audiences.

These advertisements appear on billboards - electronic LED screens, using virtual advertising technology installed around the stadium, on hard billboards in the stands or on the jerseys of players, coaches and fans.

“Online betting, betting, and gambling services and activities may comply with the laws of the host country, but according to Vietnamese law, these are prohibited services and activities. Therefore, in all cases, advertising and promoting these services and activities on television channels and pay television services is a violation of Vietnamese law,” the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information stated.

Recently, two Vietnamese units, VTV and FPT Telecom, were fined 135 million VND by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications for administrative violations due to the appearance of advertising images of websites providing illegal betting and gambling services in Vietnam such as OKVIP, FUN88, BK8, JUN88... in the live broadcast of the football match between the two teams Vietnam - Indonesia in the second qualifying round of the Asian region of the FIFA World Cup 2026. This match took place at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Indonesia at 8:30 p.m. on March 21, 2024.

To manage similar situations, in a document dated April 19, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information requested radio and television stations, television operating units and pay-TV service providers to review copyright agreements to promptly control, handle, adjust and supplement provisions to ensure prevention of violations from the root.

Stations, units and businesses are also required to review the process of controlling and processing live television signals received from abroad, strengthen technical solutions with the support of technology to strictly control the content of signal sources, and have timely solutions to respond in case of problems that must be handled on the spot to prevent illegal gambling and betting advertisements that violate Vietnamese law.

Along with that, units and businesses need to arrange sufficient on-air personnel with qualifications to ensure close monitoring of broadcast content according to regulations; review all programs, including highlights, to eliminate and not synthesize sports information related to matches with illegal advertising content and images related to services and online betting and gambling activities.