Asian Angle | Are Vietnam’s attempts at putting positive spin on social media a wrong move?

In mid-August, it convened the first national influencer summit, co-organised by the Ministry of Public Security’s cyber unit and the National Cybersecurity Association.

Nearly 300 KOLs – most of them specialising in lifestyle, fashion, food or entertainment, not politics – turned up alongside officials, brands, and platforms. The goal was to pull this commercially independent class into an official lane through a Digital Trust Alliance and an Influencer Trust programme that rates credibility, enforces advertising and tax rules, and ties visibility to “responsible influence”.

Several pillars anchor the governance framework – for example, consumer protection, stricter accountability standards, tax compliance and platform cooperation – but the cornerstone is unmistakable: enlisting KOLs to flood the infosphere with “positive, humane values”. With this approach, KOLs are no longer just entertainers but instruments of state messaging.

The summit was the latest step in a years-long effort to institutionalise “positivity” across the information sphere. In state media, editors have been steered towards “spreading positive information”. In 2021, Vietnam rolled out its national social media code of conduct, urging ordinary users to share “positive, truthful” stories about the country while discouraging posts deemed harmful to state interests.