Vietnam has a special surprise in store for Christmas: Decree 147/2024, a new internet regulation which is set to tighten restrictions on online gaming and card-based games.
According to reports, the decree is set to come into effect on December 25th and includes an impetus to mitigate the social effects of gambling.
This includes the prohibition of casino-like games as well as those using cards and card-based imagery; however, it also streamlines processes for online gaming service providers – helping speed up the licensing process.
While the technical aspect of the decree encompasses tens of thousands of games, it excludes those which have links to gambling, while mandating player verification through phone numbers in Vietnam.
It also requires parental or guardian authorization for players under 16.
The move also limits the amount of time youngsters can spend gaming, with those under 18 limited to one game session of up to 60 minutes and a daily maximum of three hours.
Cross-border games and unlicensed offerings are also under the microscope, with mandates for proper labelling and removal of content that doesn’t follow the country’s payment mandates.
Foreign companies operating gaming in Vietnam are also required to have domestic operations.
The one bonus is that under certain sub-segments of the decree, individual game approval is not required.
“Some companies submit applications for dozens of games at once. To ensure efficient processing, businesses are advised to divide applications into manageable batches,” indicated the nation’s Deputy Director of Department of Broadcasting, Television, and Electronic Information (MIC), Nugyen Thi Thanh Huyen.
The new decree goes further for other operations, with over 200 pages and 62 forms in appendix laying out cross-border information sharing, socials, online games, app stors, internet service management and telecom app service.
Social networks and app stores with monthly visits topping 100,000 per month (over a six consecutive month period) will fall under the regulation.
Failure results in fines, blocks and possible bans from operating in the country, while local internet service and telecom providers are mandated to report and maintain compliance on cross-border information exchanges.
