Digital Content – The Future of the Global Digital Economy
Movies on the Netflix interface. Screenshot.
In 2018, events further affirmed the rise of tech companies dealing in digital content, as well as the entire digital content industry, both globally and in Vietnam.
First, in the middle of the year, Facebook announced it had acquired the broadcasting rights for the English Premier League football for three seasons, worth approximately £200 million, for Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, with plans to stream the matches on Facebook for fans in these countries.
Earlier, in March, Spotify, the music platform with over 35 million licensed songs, officially launched its service for users in Vietnam. Netflix, the online platform for licensed movies, also intensified its efforts to attract users in Vietnam. On a global scale, Netflix showed its strength by surpassing traditional film studios in investments for producing original series to be streamed for users.
The rise of new business models is clearly shaping a trend: content services offering personalized, on-demand experiences to users on the Internet. From music streaming (represented by Spotify) and movies (led by Netflix) to comprehensive entertainment platforms like YouTube (by Google) and Facebook, the Internet has blurred the borders of nations, allowing service providers to operate and serve customers worldwide. Whether American, European, African, or Vietnamese, with a good Internet connection, anyone can register an account and use the services of providers from anywhere in the world.
From an economic perspective, reports from market research companies show that in the value chain of Internet services, the market share of digital content services is increasingly growing. The revenue share from hardware and device providers (computers, phones, telecommunication devices...) and connectivity services (Internet, telecommunications) is gradually decreasing, while the revenue from digital content business on the Internet is steadily rising. Digital content, therefore, is the future of the global digital economy.
Rethinking Management Approaches
Amendments to Decree 06/2016/ND-CP regarding the management, provision, and use of radio and television services are seen as a new step by the government in updating management policies for the digital content sector on the Internet. While the government's intention to update management solutions in line with practical developments is appropriate, the proposed policies in the draft decree have not received widespread agreement from businesses in the digital content sector.
Most notably, businesses argue that the drafters of the decree—headed by the Department of Radio, Television, and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications—still adhere to old thinking, burdening new businesses with the conditions for market entry and business licensing. The management approach for "tech taxis" (Uber, Grab) being treated like "traditional taxis" is clearly being repeated with digital content platforms. For example, when Facebook broadcasts the English Premier League and now streams user-generated content, is it a television station? Should Netflix be required to operate like a traditional TV station? If traditional TV regulations are applied, it would mean mandating them to broadcast certain content (such as promoting government policies) at specific times, broadcast Vietnamese films in certain proportions, and translate foreign content into Vietnamese. These regulations, which traditional TV stations themselves find unsuitable, would impose unnecessary burdens on new business models.
The approach in the draft amendment does not encourage Vietnam to "catch the 4.0 train"—it does not promote local businesses to innovate and follow new tech-based business models. The regulations essentially create market entry barriers, increasing costs for Vietnamese businesses. Secondly, while the government is pushing to eliminate unreasonable business licenses and market entry conditions, and transitioning from "pre-control" (with licenses and entry requirements) to post-monitoring, maintaining a strong "pre-control" mentality in the draft decree contradicts the spirit of management reform.
Questions to Ask Before Making Policies
The government, when issuing new regulatory documents, needs to identify the issues raised by new business activities and then propose policy solutions to address them, rather than applying traditional management approaches to any new type of business.
For cross-border content service providers, two main questions arise for the government. First, how should taxes be levied on these companies? If they are making profits, they must pay taxes. This is a fair requirement for businesses—whether foreign or Vietnamese—operating in Vietnam. Requiring these companies to fulfill their tax obligations is a legitimate and non-negotiable demand.
The second question: What issues arise from the activities of these businesses? For example, does the content harm Vietnamese users (is there violence, pornography, hate speech, racial or religious discrimination, etc.)? If there are issues, do current laws (Criminal Code, Civil Code, and other specialized laws such as the Cybersecurity Law, Information Security Law) have the capacity to handle them? Are new regulations needed?
Clearly, the government, particularly the Ministry of Finance (regarding taxes) and the Ministry of Information and Communications (regarding content management), does not yet have a complete assessment or sufficient information to answer these questions.
Therefore, the draft amendments to Decree 06, as proposed, are not well-prepared and have not undergone thorough scrutiny. The government, particularly the Ministry of Information and Communications, should reconsider its entire approach to managing the digital content sector and propose a unified legal framework for this field. Not only Decree 06 but also Decree 72/2013/ND-CP and Decree 27, which amends Decree 72 on managing, providing, and using Internet services and online information, should be reviewed and amended for consistency.
The Prime Minister's direction is clear—Industry 4.0 must begin with a "policy revolution." In the 4.0 era, digital content truly represents a promising economic sector for Vietnam. If Vietnam wants to participate in 4.0, a clear legal framework requires a fundamental "reform."
Nguyen Quang Dong - Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development
.png "AI Virtual Assistants: Why Are They Always Female?")