Requirements for Establishing a Social Networking Company in Vietnam

In the digital era, social networks have become an indispensable part of socio-economic life, opening up full-potential business opportunities. However, establishing and operating a social networking business company is not merely a technical or commercial issue but is a conditional business sector subject to strict management by the law. Therefore, to officially participate in this market legally and sustainably, enterprises need to clearly understand and fully meet specific legal conditions regarding business lines, personnel, techniques, and licensing procedures. The article below will provide clients with legal regulations on requirements for establishing a social networking company in Vietnam.

What is a social network?

A social network is an information system providing the community of network users with services for storage, provision, usage, search, sharing, and exchange of information with each other, including services for creating personal electronic information pages, forums, online chats, sharing audio, images, and other similar forms of service.

Requirements for establishing a social networking company in Vietnam

Conditions on business lines

Enterprises performing procedures to apply for a License to establish a social network must have the following business line codes in the Enterprise Registration Certificate (or business line registration data on the National Business Registration Portal):

6310: Data processing, hosting and related activities.

6390: Other information service activities.

Conditions for granting a License to establish a social network

Enterprises may only establish a social network when they have a License to establish a social network. Decree 147/2024/ND-CP on the management, provision, and use of Internet services and online information stipulates the conditions for granting a license to establish a social network specifically as follows:

Enterprises are granted a License to establish a social network when satisfying the following conditions:

• Being an enterprise established under Vietnamese law with functions, tasks, or registered business lines suitable to the services and information content provided as published on the National Business Registration Portal;
• Having an organization and personnel meeting the regulations in Decree 147/2024/ND-CP.
• Having registered the domain name used to establish the social network.
• Meeting technical conditions.
• Having measures to ensure information safety and information security.

Conditions on organization and personnel for the social network page

• Have a content/information management department and a technical management department. The personnel responsible for content/information management must be a person with Vietnamese nationality;
• Have a head office with a clear and contactable address and telephone number;
• Have a content information management department.

Conditions on domain names

In case agencies, organizations, or enterprises establish a general electronic information page or provide social networking services via a domain name, they must meet the following conditions:

• For agencies, organizations, and enterprises that are not press agencies, the domain name and page name must not be identical to or overlap with the names of press agencies or contain words (in Vietnamese or equivalent foreign languages) that may cause confusion with press agencies or press activities such as: Newspaper, station, magazines, news, radio, television, communications, and news agencies.
• General electronic information pages and social networks using the domain name “.vn” as the main domain name must store user service data at a server system with an IP address in Vietnam.
• The domain name “.vn” must be registered for use by the agency, organization, or enterprise applying for the license, with a remaining usage term of at least 06 months at the time of application and must comply with regulations on the management and use of Internet resources. For international domain names, there must be a confirmation of legal domain name use for the agency, organization, or enterprise applying for the license.
• General electronic information pages licensed by the local Department of Science and Technology shall not use domain names with character strings identical to the names of other localities.

Technical conditions for social networks

Establish a system of technical equipment capable of meeting the following requirements:

• For general electronic information pages: Store aggregated information content for a minimum of 90 days from the time of posting; store processing logs of posted information for a minimum of 02 years;
• For social networks: Store information on accounts, log-in and log-out times, IP addresses of service users, and processing logs of posted information for a minimum of 02 years; delete information of service users in Vietnam after the storage period expires according to the law;
• Receive and process warnings of violating information from service users;
• Detect, warn, and prevent illegal access and forms of attacks in the network environment and comply with standards and technical regulations on network information safety according to the law;
• Have a backup plan to ensure safe, continuous operation and troubleshooting when incidents occur, except for force majeure cases according to the law;
• Ensure there is at least 01 server system placed in Vietnam, allowing for inspection, storage, and provision of information on all electronic information pages and social networks owned by the agency, organization, or enterprise at any time as prescribed.

Conditions on the social network establishment system

In addition to ensuring technical conditions, the technical system establishing the social network must be capable of meeting the following requirements:

• Store information of service users from Vietnam when registering a social network account.
• Perform authentication of social network service users’ accounts by mobile phone numbers in Vietnam. If there is no mobile phone number in Vietnam, the organization or enterprise providing social network services shall authenticate the account by personal identification number according to the law on electronic identification and authentication.
• In case the service user uses the livestream feature for commercial purposes, the organization or enterprise providing social network services shall authenticate the account by personal identification number according to the law on electronic identification and authentication.
• Ensure that only authenticated accounts can post information (write posts, comments, livestream) and share information on the social network.
• Prevent or remove information violating regulations under the Law on Cybersecurity and regulations on intellectual property upon request from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, or competent authorities under specialized laws;
• Establish a warning mechanism and use information filtering tools when users post information containing content that violates the Law on Cybersecurity.

Procedures for establishing a social networking business company

Step 1: Drafting the dossier to establish a social networking business company

According to the Law on Enterprise 2020 and Decree 168/2025/ND-CP regulating procedures for enterprise establishment as follows:

• Application for enterprise registration according to the form;
• Company Charter (partnership, limited liability company, joint stock company);
• List of members of the partnership or multiple-member LLC according to the form;
• List of founding shareholders and list of shareholders being foreign investors of the joint stock company according to the form;
• List of beneficial owners according to the form (If any);
• Copies of ID card/Citizen ID card/Passport of the private enterprise owner, legal representative, members, owners, shareholders, and authorized representatives of members, shareholders, or owners being organizations. In case the enterprise establishment dossier declares the personal identification numbers of these individuals, copies of legal papers of the above individuals are not required;
• Copy of the establishment certificate of the organization for members, shareholders, or owners being organizations;
• Document appointing the authorized representative for the capital contribution of the organization;
• Copy of investment registration certificate;
• Power of attorney for Viet An Law Firm (in case of authorizing Viet An Law Firm to submit the dossier).

Step 2: Submitting the enterprise establishment registration dossier and paying enterprise information publication fees

• The dossier for registering the requirements for establishing a social networking company in Vietnam is submitted to the business registration authority via the National Business Registration Portal for substantive examination.
• The procedure for paying enterprise information publication fees will be performed in parallel with the procedure for submitting the enterprise establishment dossier.
• If the dossier is invalid, the business registration authority will notify in writing, clearly stating the reasons and requirements for amending and supplementing the dossier for the enterprise to know.

Step 3: Procedures after establishing a social networking business company

• Seal carving
• Bank account registration
• Invoice purchase
• Granting of License to establish a social network

Procedures for applying for a License to establish a social network

Step 1: Drafting the dossier requesting for a license to establish a social network

Decree 147/2024/ND-CP prescribes the dossier for applying for a license to establish a social network as follows:

• Application for a License to provide social networking services: Made according to Form No. 17 in the Appendix issued with Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP.
• Valid copies of legal entity documents: Including Enterprise Registration Certificate or documents of equivalent legal validity.
• Operation Scheme: This is the core document, which must be confirmed by the legal representative. The content of the Scheme must describe in detail the services, scope of provision, personnel organization plan, technical plan, content management measures, and information on the location of the server system in Vietnam.
• Agreement on provision and use of social networking services: This document must contain minimum contents such as: prohibited acts, rights and responsibilities of users, responsibilities of the service provider, violation handling mechanism, complaint resolution mechanism, and personal information protection policy of users.
• Printout/scan of the home page interface and category pages: This document aims to visually illustrate the structure and design of the social network, ensuring compliance with regulations on information that must be publicly disclosed on the home page.

Step 2: Submitting the dossier requesting for a license

• The dossier requesting for a license is sent directly, via postal service, or via the Internet.
• Competent authority to accept the dossier: Currently, according to regulations at Point e, Subsection 11, Part II, Appendix I, Issued with Decision No. 682/QD-BVHTTDL. The sole authority competent to perform the procedure for granting a License to establish a social network online is the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The unit directly receiving, appraising the dossier, and advising the Ministry’s leadership to issue the licensing decision is the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information. The role of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information is as a specialized agency, comprehensively responsible for reviewing the completeness and validity of the dossier, and evaluating the technical, personnel, and content conditions presented by the enterprise in the Operation Scheme.

Step 3: Granting the License to establish a social network

• Article 31 of Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP stipulates that within 25 working days from the date of submitting the dossier, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information will conduct an appraisal. This process includes checking the legality of the dossier and evaluating the feasibility of the Operation Scheme, comparing the actual conditions of the enterprise with legal regulations.
• If the dossier is valid and meets all conditions, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will notify the granting of the License according to Form No. 19-Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP via the National Public Service Portal. In case of refusal, the Ministry will respond in writing and clearly state the reason.

Step 4: Attaching the confirmation code

• After being licensed, the enterprise will receive a code segment from the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information. The enterprise is responsible for attaching this code segment to the service description content on the application store (if any) and on the social network itself to publicize the licensed status.

Clients wishing to establish a social networking business company, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the fastest support!