Telegram may be blocked in Vietnam

The Telecommunications Authority (Ministry of Science and Technology) has requested telecom operators in Vietnam to implement measures to block the activities of the Telegram application at the request of the Ministry of Public Security. This needs to be reported before June 2.

The reason is that Telegram is being exploited to spread information that undermines, violates the law, and affects national security and social order. According to the Ministry of Public Security, 68% of channels and groups on Telegram in Vietnam contain harmful content, among which there are tens of thousands of members participating in disseminating opposing documents. In addition, many scams via Telegram have occurred, causing losses of more than 1 trillion VND, with over 13,000 victims and personal data of 23 million citizens being sold.

Telegram does not comply with the regulations in Decree 147/2024 on Internet management and does not cooperate with Vietnamese authorities, despite being requested multiple times. According to the Telecommunications Authority, starting from January 1, cross-border Internet service providers must notify their activities, but Telegram has not done so.

Globally, Telegram is rated as the "least cooperative" platform by Interpol, and has been restricted or blocked in at least 8 countries such as Russia, China, India, Brazil... for not cooperating with authorities in handling violating content. #Telegram #Vietnam