The bureau said it had sent official letters to the companies asking them to stop advertising in reactionary clips against the State. The deadline for response is June 27, 2019.

The agency confirmed that it would strictly handle companies that had already been warned but had not taken action.

On June 10, the authority announced 21 brands that were advertising in malicious video clips. By June 19, 15 of those firms had responded as required, saying they had asked Youtube to prevent their adverts from being used in reactionary clips.

Since the beginning of 2017, the MIC has detected dozens of domestic and global brands advertising products and services in videos with malicious content that violates Vietnamese law.

According to the ministry, this was a serious violation of the Law on Advertising that affected the safety and reputation of brands and businesses.

MIC’s statistics show that the online advertising market in Việt Nam is worth about US$400 million. More than 70 per cent of this revenue pours into the pockets of Facebook and Google, with Google earning about $150 million per year from advertising in Việt Nam. — VNS