Vietnam blocks access to Telegram – here's all you need to know

• Vietnam has issued an order to block Telegram for failing to cooperate with authorities in halting crimes
• According to authorities, nearly 70% of Telegram channels and groups in Vietnam contain harmful content
• A new law requires social media providers to store Vietnamese users' data and share it with authorities upon request

Vietnam has blocked Telegram for failing to cooperate with authorities in halting crimes allegedly happening on the platform.

As reported by Reuters, the country's Head of the Telecom department issued the blocking order against telecommunications companies on May 21, 2025, with an obligation to report back to the ministry by June 2.

While the block didn't come into force immediately, Telegram appears to be inaccessible from the country at the time of writing. This means everyone living in or visiting Vietnam now needs one of the best VPN services to keep accessing the popular messaging app from the country.

Vietnam Telegram block

As per international and local sources, Vietnamese police said that nearly 70% of the almost 10,000 Telegram channels and groups accessible in the country contain "poisonous and bad information," Al Jazeera reported. Some groups have even been found to have links with illicit activities, like drug trafficking or terrorism.

This is why authorities decided to issue an order to all the country's telecoms providers "to deploy solutions and measures to prevent Telegram's activities in Vietnam."

Talking to Reuters, a Telegram spokesperson said to be "surprised by those statements," adding that the team responded to legal requests from Vietnam on time.

Yet, as per what a government official told Reuters, Telegram failed to share user data with authorities when asked as required by law.

Vietnam indeed enforced a controversial law in December last year that requires social media providers to store Vietnamese users' data and share it with authorities upon request. However, as per Surfshark's data, Vietnam had already restricted social media twice before that, with temporary blocks on Facebook and Instagram in 2016.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in August 2024 in France for, among other things, failing to properly moderate the app to combat crimes occurring on the platform. After that, Telegram appears to have strengthened its moderation policies.

Globally, Surfshark recorded a total of 34 countries that have banned Telegram since 2015, either temporarily or permanently, with Vietnam being the 35th to do so.

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How a VPN can help

Some local journalists and internet users lamented difficulties in accessing Telegram from Vietnam without a VPN starting from May 25, 2025.

Local users also confirmed TechRadar that Telegram is blocked in the country at the time of writing, but VPNs keep working fine to bypass restrictions.

This is because VPN services and similar circumventing tools come with IP-spoofing capabilities that allow users to look like they're browsing from a different country entirely within a couple of clicks.

All you need to do is download a reliable VPN for Vietnam, pick a server in a country where Telegram isn't blocked, and keep using the app as usual. You can find all the up-to-date information on how to unlock Telegram with a VPN on our dedicated page.

If you aren't willing to invest some money in a premium services, I reccommend checking out our free VPN page to pick the most secure freebie out there. Tor browser is also a great alernative to stay anonymous and bypass internet cenrsohip free of costs.

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