Huge consumption and uncontrollable spread
Vietnam's digital space is witnessing the dominance of short video platforms such as TikTok, Facebook (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts).
According to DataReportal's Digital 2025: Vietnam report (coordinated by We Are Social and Meltwater), the percentage of 18-year-old users in Vietnam who can access TikTok advertising is about 92-93% of Internet users, equivalent to 67-70 million accounts in early 2026.
The report also shows that Vietnamese people spend an average of about 2.5-3 hours per day on social networks, of which short videos are the format with the highest consumption time.
Some international surveys on youth behavior indicate that "doomscrolling" - unconscious surfing lasting for many hours - can be up to 8-10 hours/day in isolated cases.
That huge consumption creates an ideal environment for sensational content to develop. A family video drama, jealousy, or "commander short film" can reach hundreds of thousands of views in just a few hours and quickly reach millions of views in a few days thanks to the "For You" or "Trending" mechanism.
It is worth mentioning that many contents clearly do not violate the law: there are no direct violent images, no prohibited words, but there are dense plots, revenge, cursing, and encouraging the psychology of "tit for tat".
Even, to circumvent the filter, creators replace sensitive words such as "suicide", "murder" with the number symbol "44" or variations of metaphors.
Social media expert Nguyen Ngoc Long analyzed: the platform algorithm operates like an emotionless machine, measuring user behavior instead of content value. When viewers stop for curiosity, frustration or glee, the algorithm recognizes it as "attractive content" and continues to distribute it more strongly.
The algorithm does not create toxicity itself. It only exaggerates what the crowd chooses to consume," Mr. Long said.
From a management perspective, at the regular press conference in the third quarter of 2025 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr. Le Quang Tu Do - Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information - said that web-drama content and short films on social networks are considered according to Decree 72/2013 and Decree 147/2024 of the Government on the management of the Internet and online information content.
According to him, it is not possible to "block a whole topic" like the director's film, but it is necessary to handle each specific content if there are signs of negativity, exposure, superstition or adverse effects on people.
It is necessary to consider whether that content is negative, conveys distorted ideology, is revealing, affects children or is superstitious... or not. If so, we will take immediate measures to handle that content. However, it is not possible to block and remove a whole "general director" topic, but it must follow each specific content of that web-drama or short film," Mr. Tu Do assessed.
The Department maintains a specialized force to scan, using both human resources and technical tools to request the platform to remove violating content within 24 hours.
According to statistics up to October 2025, the rate of timely handling in the past two years has reached over 90%.
However, the leaders of management agencies themselves also admit that it is difficult to define the boundary of violations in "gray areas" - where content has not reached the legal threshold but there is a risk of long-term negative impacts.
Gray zone" and the problem of implementing the spirit of Resolution 80
Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW of the Politburo on Vietnamese cultural development emphasizes the task of building a healthy digital information environment, raising legal awareness and civic responsibility in the digital space; promulgating a code of conduct in the digital space; and purifying the digital cultural environment.
This spirit raises a big question: what to do with video dramas of cursing, jealousy, and time-traveling revenge, which are not always illegal, how to handle them?
According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Long, the most dangerous thing is not video clearly violating the law, but the accumulated impact over time.
What is scary is not a single scolding clip. What is scary is that viewers are exposed to that motif every day, repeatedly, to the point of considering those revenge scenes and toxic calculations as normal," Mr. Long said.
Mr. Long analyzed: "When a child or teenager continuously watches content of mother-in-law - daughter-in-law cursing, colleagues harming, husbands and wives trapping each other, the brain will establish a new frame of reference. They may think that the adult world operates by tricks and eliminates each other.
According to experts, it is a process of "normalizing things that deviate from standards".
We are witnessing the normalization of verbal violence. People curse each other as a way to express personality. But between personality and ignorance is a very fragile boundary. If out-of-standard content appears with a high density, that boundary will be blurred," Mr. Long emphasized.
From an algorithmic perspective, Mr. Long believes that it is not possible to only call on responsible creators. If the platform only optimizes viewing and interaction time, then shocking content that stimulates negative emotions always has an advantage.
Drama creates controversy, controversy creates commentary, commentary creates additional distribution. That is the profit loop.
According to him, to handle it from the root, it is necessary to hit three pillars. The first is cash flow. "Drama content is not produced for passion for art, but because views are converted into advertising, sales, booking money. If you turn off making money with channels that violate cultural standards, the production motivation will be significantly reduced," Mr. Long said.
Second is the responsibility of cross-border platforms. According to Mr. Long, when social networks make large profits in Vietnam, they cannot stand aside from protecting the content environment. Even with videos that do not violate the law, platforms can still proactively adjust algorithms, reduce the level of suggestions for sensational, inciting content to limit spread.
Third is to improve user "resistance". "The algorithm reflects mass behavior. When viewers simultaneously ignore, report, and do not interact with harmful content, the system will record reduced demand and automatically adjust distribution," Mr. Long affirmed.
The spirit of Resolution 80 is not only about removing the bad, but also towards building a system of Vietnamese cultural values in the digital environment. This requires coordination between management agencies, platforms, creators and families.
The matrix of toxic short films in the digital space is therefore not just a story of a few million views, but a long-term issue related to the social value system.
When each view, each comment unintentionally fuels sensational content, we are also contributing to shaping the digital cultural face of ourselves.
In the race between technical censorship and creative law-breaking, the sustainable solution is probably not in "chasing" each video, but in changing the operation of the algorithm, the responsibility of the platform and user consumption habits.
