Towards digital platforms with Vietnamese identity

However, content sharing, community interaction, and connections among Vietnamese users are currently taking place mainly on social media platforms operated by foreign companies.

Looking around the world, most countries with developed digital economies have their own social media platforms. China has WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, while the US has Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Although global platforms continue to expand their influence, these countries still invest heavily in domestic platforms to attract local users, connect communities, distribute content, and develop digital ecosystems with their own distinct identities.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam does not yet have a social media platform capable of attracting large numbers of users and integrating a wide range of services within a single ecosystem. Most agencies, organisations, businesses, and communities still use cross-border platforms to share content and interact. This dependence makes it difficult for Viet Nam to maintain control over cultural data and leaves access to users subject to proprietary algorithms, creating risks of data dependence and the spread of foreign values.

As Viet Nam accelerates the building and improvement of its digital cultural infrastructure, the Central Steering Committee on Vietnamese Culture Development has identified the building of cultural sovereignty in the digital space as one of four key tasks in the coming time.

To achieve this goal, Viet Nam needs social media platforms developed and controlled by domestic businesses. According to experts in digital technology and communications, controlling platforms is an important condition for controlling the digital space, enabling the country to take the initiative in content distribution, community connections, and the spread of Vietnamese cultural values.

In 2019, a Vietnamese business launched the Lotus social networking application with a content-centred approach aimed at domestic users. It brought together press agencies, content creators, experts, and influencers to build a high-quality information environment.

Along with Gapo, although it did not achieve the expected level of success, these projects demonstrated the ambition of Vietnamese businesses to build “Made in Viet Nam” social media platforms and take control of technology and the digital space. These experiments have also shown that building a competitive platform requires a long-term strategy, sufficient resources, and products that meet users' actual needs.

Recently, the government issued Decree No. 277/2026/ND-CP (July 9, 2026) on digital cultural infrastructure, creating favourable conditions for technology businesses to invest in developing digital platforms serving the cultural sector. Businesses that invest in the research and development of digital technology, digital technology products, and digital cultural products and services are eligible for preferential policies and support when they meet the relevant criteria prescribed by law.

This is also a favourable time for technology businesses, start-up groups, and Vietnamese engineers to invest in building social media platforms controlled by Vietnamese people, with the needs of domestic users and Vietnamese cultural values at their centre.

Such platforms would not only provide spaces for sharing content, connecting communities, and spreading cultural values, but could also become channels for distributing digital content and supporting cultural industries in reaching audiences in the digital environment. Collaboration among the state, businesses, and creators will help drive the development of a digital ecosystem with a Vietnamese identity that meets the needs of domestic users.

Each platform developed by a domestic business will add another “Vietnamese space” to the digital environment, allowing Vietnamese people to connect, create, share content, and spread cultural values. This will help safeguard cultural sovereignty in the digital era and foster a digital ecosystem with a Vietnamese identity.