Is it necessary to have registration before sending advertising messages in Vietnam?
In Vietnam, is it necessary to have registration before sending advertising messages? What is a spam message? Do I need to have any registration if I want to send advertising messages to phone numbers? Are my advertising messages considered to be spam messages? Thank you!
<subquestion>In Vietnam, is it necessary to have registration before sending advertising messages?</subquestion>
Pursuant to Article 11 of the Decree 91/2020/NĐ-CP stipulating responsibilities of advertisers:
1. Check the Do-Not-Call Register mentioned in Clause 1 Article 7 of this Decree to avoid sending opt-in messages, advertising messages and making advertising calls to the numbers on the Register.
2. Only send advertising messages, advertising emails and make advertising calls to users that have given their prior consent by:
a) Agreeing to receive advertising messages after the advertiser sends the first and only opt-in message;
b) Completing the form and making a confirmation on paper or on the website/web portal, online application or social network of the advertiser;
c) Calling or sending a message to the advertiser’s call center to subscribe;
d) Using a software program to subscribe.
3. Provide users with tools to access or retain agreements on subscribing to and unsubscribing from advertising messages, advertising emails and advertising calls on their website/web portal to facilitate inspection and complaint settlement.
4. Take responsibility for and verify users’ prior consents when sending advertising messages, advertising emails and making advertising calls.
5. Have appropriate solutions and enable users to refuse to receive advertising messages in accordance with Article 16 and advertising emails in accordance with Article 20 of this Decree.
6. Cooperate with providers of telecommunications, Internet, mailing services and relevant organizations in advertising by messaging, emailing and calling.
7. Retain advertisement subscription requests, unsubscribing requests and confirmation messages for at least 01 year to facilitate inspection and supervision.
Pursuant to Article 8 of the Circular 22/2021/TT-BTTTT stipulating regulations on sending the first and only promotion subscription message:
1. Advertisers may only send the first and only promotion subscription message to 1 subscriber. The first and only promotion subscription message is tagged with "DKQC".  The tag is placed first in the message.
2. A message must at least:
a) Introduce the advertiser who is requesting for subscription;
b) Provide instructions on how to subscribe to promotions via the system established by the advertiser;
c) Provide instructions on how to decline via the system established by the advertiser;
3. Advertisers may only send the first and only promotion subscription message from 7 am to 10 pm.
4. If the user does not reply within 24 hours from the moment he/she receives the first and only subscription message, the advertiser shall not send any subscription message to that user’s phone number.
5. The advertiser shall send a copy of the first and only promotion subscription message to 5656 and the synchronous data on subscription or decline of receiving the first and only promotional message to the management system of the Do-Not-Call Register.
As rugulations above, you shall have registration and send a copy of the first and only promotion subscription message to 5656 and the synchronous data on subscription.
<subquestion>What is a spam message?</subquestion>
Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 4 of the Circular 22/2021/TT-BTTTT stipulating criteria for recognition of spam messages, spam calls, and spam emails:
3. An email is identified as a spam email according to the following criteria:
a) The frequency of email sending is the number of emails sent from the email sending source in a period;
b) Pattern:
- The sending source is mainly used for sending emails and not receiving or exchanging information;
- The ratio of sending emails to unrelated email addresses is the ratio of sending emails to unrelated email addresses (have never exchanged emails before) to total emails.
c) The technology that is used for sending or receiving emails.

Article 11 of the Decree 91/2020/NĐ-CP