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Vietnam’s Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) ordered Netflix on April 10, 2024, to stop advertising and distributing its games in Vietnam by April 25. The stated problem was not Netflix’s movies or television shows: ABEI said Netflix was offering online games without the authorization required under Vietnamese law.
What Vietnam ordered Netflix to do
ABEI’s notice required Netflix to complete three related actions by April 25, 2024:
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- Stop promoting games inside the Netflix application for users in Vietnam.
- Stop publishing or distributing the games through the Vietnamese version of Apple’s App Store.
- Stop publishing or distributing them through the Vietnamese version of Google Play.
The order described these games as being offered without the required local authorization. Read the regulator’s April 10 notice at ABEI.gov.vn.
Why the regulator said Netflix was in violation
ABEI said its review found that Netflix advertised online games to Vietnamese users and made multiple games available through local app-store channels without authorization to provide the relevant game service. The authority cited Article 31 of Vietnam’s Decree 72/2013/ND-CP, which covers internet services, online information and online games.
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Vietnam treats online gaming as a regulated service, even when games are bundled with another digital product. ABEI’s administrative guidance describes registration and certification requirements for G2, G3 and G4 online-game providers, including business documents, a service plan, technical systems, payment arrangements where applicable, player-rights protections and information-security measures. The guidance is available at ABEI’s game-service registration page.
The cited documents do not identify a specific G category for Netflix’s games. The precise point was that Vietnamese authorities treated Netflix’s activity as online-game provision or distribution requiring compliance with the local framework.
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How Netflix Games reached users
Netflix’s model combined the streaming app with conventional mobile-game distribution:
- A subscriber saw games promoted or listed within the Netflix app.
- The user could download a title directly through the app experience or be sent to an app store.
- After installation, the player signed in with a Netflix account to play.
ABEI said Netflix’s offering had grown from roughly 50 games to about 90 during the period it reviewed the service. That figure describes the 2024 episode, not a confirmed current catalog, and the available notices do not establish that every Netflix Games title was available in Vietnam.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance. Gift codes can be added to any plan, regardless of the amount.
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Netflix began its mobile-games expansion in November 2021, according to Reuters reporting carried by Investing.com. The Vietnamese dispute therefore concerned a newer business line rather than the company’s established video-streaming operation.
Was Netflix banned in Vietnam?
No. The order targeted Netflix Games advertising and distribution. Nothing in the cited notice orders Netflix to stop showing films or television programs, close its Vietnamese streaming service or leave the country.
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- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance. Gift codes can be added to any plan, regardless of the amount.
- Redemption: Online
“Netflix was banned” is consequently too broad a description. The supported description is that Vietnam demanded the removal of an unauthorized games activity while leaving the scope of this particular action focused on games.
What happened after the April 25 deadline?
On May 20, 2024, ABEI reported that Netflix had stopped advertising and distributing the games in Vietnam. The authority said the games were no longer visible in the Netflix application and were no longer being distributed through Vietnam’s App Store and Google Play storefronts. The follow-up is documented in ABEI’s May 20 update.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance. Gift codes can be added to any plan, regardless of the amount.
- Redemption: Online
That makes April 25 a compliance deadline that Netflix met, based on the regulator’s subsequent report, rather than an unresolved threat. The April notice said relevant state agencies would handle noncompliance under Vietnamese law, but the available text does not specify a particular fine, blocking order, criminal case or enforcement sequence.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Vietnamese Netflix users should take from the episode
- The specific action concerned game listings, downloads and in-app promotion, not the ordinary Netflix film-and-TV catalog.
- ABEI’s account indicates that game availability through both Netflix and local app stores was withdrawn.
- The cited material does not establish what happened to every previously installed game or whether account access continued through any technical route.
- As of August 18, 2026, these sources confirm the 2024 withdrawal but do not establish that Netflix later obtained authorization or resumed game distribution in Vietnam.
How this differed from earlier Netflix disputes
Vietnam has previously required Netflix to restrict individual programs, including disputes involving territorial-map depictions, as Reuters has reported. Those cases concerned content and sovereignty sensitivities. The April 2024 games order had a different stated basis: ABEI said Netflix lacked authorization for online-game services.
That distinction matters. The games action was not presented as a judgment about the content of a particular game, nor as a general restriction on Netflix’s entertainment library.
The broader regulatory lesson
A global platform can be established in one market for streaming and still face separate local requirements when it adds games, payments or another regulated service. In Vietnam’s view, placing a title in a local Apple or Google storefront did not replace the provider’s obligation to meet Vietnamese online-game rules. ABEI’s order shows how regulators may assess the underlying service and its local distribution channels, not just the platform’s primary business.
The most accurate summary is therefore narrow: Vietnam ordered Netflix to stop advertising and distributing its games by April 25, 2024, because ABEI said the service lacked the required authorization. Netflix’s core movie and television streaming service was not the subject of that order.
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