Vietnam seeks tighter control over Facebook, Google ads

The Ministry of Information and Communications is seeking to amend Decree 181 to make clearer the responsibilities of advertisers and advertising service providers such as Facebook and Google.

The 2013 decree to guide implementation of the Law on Advertising lays down basic regulations governing cross-border advertising activities in Vietnam. But the ministry said it lacks comprehensive guidance with regard to the responsibilities of involved parties, particularly for content censorship and tax obligations.

Its list of violations and sanctions for them are incomplete, not severe enough or impracticable, it said.

The ministry therefore wants amendments that obligate advertising service providers to proactively review their products to ensure they do not violate the Law on Advertising and to pay taxes in accordance with regulations.

They will also be required to block and remove illegal contents when asked by the ministry and other competent authorities.

Advertisers will be responsible for the contents and have the right to demand their advertisements are not attached to contents that violate the law.

The ministry also plans to remove a number of provisions it deems inappropriate such as a requirement that advertisers seeking to use international advertising services must go through domestic agencies.

Only 45 percent of Google's advertising revenues and 30 percent of Facebook's go through them now.
According to the ministry, online advertising currently accounts for a large portion of total advertising, with Google and Facebook accounting for 70 percent.

But many advertisers are dissatisfied with the two tech giants. Last September, for instance, 15 large businesses pulled out their advertisements from Google's video sharing site YouTube after their ads were attached to videos containing "reactionary" contents.