Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just signed Decision No. 468/QD-TTg dated March 23, 2026 approving the Program "Protecting and supporting children's development in the online environment in the period 2026 - 2030".
Over the years, issues related to children in cyberspace have become painful for society as a whole.
According to statistics, in just the first 6 months of 2025, there were dozens of cases of children and teenagers being scammed, abused or seduced through cyberspace.
Unpredictable danger
In November 2025, Department A05 coordinated with the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and with the support of international organizations to deploy consulting and opinion gathering activities for nearly 2,800 children in 16 provinces and cities.
The survey recorded that 47.9% of children use the Internet from 1-3 hours per day, 18.8% of children from 4-6 hours and in some cases exceed 10 hours. Notably, all surveyed children have experienced at least one risk in cyberspace.
The high level of use entails many different risks. One of the noteworthy forms is the act of approaching and seducing through social networks.
The subject often builds relationships with children, exploits personal information, and then leads them to private interactions or dates in real life.
At the same time, the risk of child abuse in the online environment is also increasing. Common forms include enticing to send personal photos, extortion or coercion to perform sensitive acts.
Another recorded factor is the existence of social media groups with negative content. Children may be drawn to participate in game groups, betting, and even illegal activities.
Broadly, another statistic from the National Institute of Mental Health shows that more than 51% of young people aged 10-24 use the Internet for more than 3 hours a day, in some cases up to 15 hours.
Access devices are mainly smartphones, accounting for more than 98%. The rate of Internet addiction in the clinical standard research group is up to 43.1%, reflecting an increasing level of dependence.
From addiction to deviant behavior
According to information from the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention - Ministry of Public Security, in the first 9 months of 2025, there were up to 22,200 complaints about online fraud, mainly targeting students aged 14-22.
In 2024, Vietnam recorded 381 cases of sexual abuse via the internet, mainly stemming from exploiting personal information on Facebook and Zalo.
In 2025, cross-border manipulation and abuse cases via TikTok and Instagram increased by more than 30% compared to 2024, and many subjects also use AI to personalize content to lure and manipulate victims' psychology.
Besides, there are also many cases of children "falling into" online gambling groups, addicted to games, often dropping out of school, sitting all night in internet cafes.
Reporters had a conversation with dozens of teenagers in boarding schools and reform schools who have slipped due to the internet.
The case of Luong Van Khanh (name changed, born in 2007) - living and studying in a boarding school for special children for 3 years - reflects the process of transitioning from using social networks to online gambling addiction.
Khanh said: "I started using phones very early. There are many links online, friends invite me to join game groups. After that, I switched to playing sic bo. Initially only a few tens of thousands, but when I won big, I continued to play. When I lost, I borrowed money and took money from my family to pay.
The accumulated debt amounted to 100 million VND when she was still in high school.
According to teachers at boarding facilities, about half of students are involved in game addiction or online gambling. Age begins to decline, appearing in the 10-11 age group. Common manifestations include loss of concentration, reduced ability to control behavior and dependence on electronic devices.
Le Van Thang (18 years old) described the prolonged dependent state: "In the early days of school, I always felt like I was holding a phone, playing games.
According to the teacher, this is a manifestation of the brain being used to continuous stimulation from the digital environment, leading to difficulty adapting to normal living rhythms.
Not only stopping at addiction, the online environment also plays an intermediary role leading to other behaviors. Some students said that participating in online friend groups, thereby accessing activities such as racing, smoking e-cigarettes or betting.
This process takes place in a continuous chain of actions, from accessing content, joining groups, to behavioral testing and finally dependence.
Data from the Vietnam Youth Research Institute in 2024 shows that nearly 65% of high school students play games regularly, of which about 25% have obvious signs of addiction.
Symptoms include irritability, skipping school, and lying to the family. These are factors that make children easily drawn into other negative activities in the online environment.
From specific data and cases, it can be seen that the risks in cyberspace do not exist independently but are linked. Long-term access to social networks increases the possibility of exposure to risky content; thereby leading to joining groups, forming deviant behavior and possibly leading to more serious violations.
In that context, Decision No. 468/QD-TTg on the Program "Protecting and supporting children's development in the online environment for the period 2026-2030" sets a goal to shift from handling to prevention.
Solutions include perfecting the legal corridor, deploying content control technology, popularizing digital skills and strengthening coordination between families, schools and management agencies.
