On April 7, 2026, President Tô Lâm signed a decision ratifying the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, also known as the Hanoi Convention. The document has drawn significant international controversy over concerns about potential human rights violations.
Context: Signed in Hà Nội on Oct. 5, 2025, the Hanoi Convention is considered the first global legal instrument of the United Nations aimed at combating transnational cybercrime, covering activities ranging from infrastructure attacks and unauthorized access to data sharing, fraud, and online child sexual exploitation.
- Domestic media have described Hà Nội’s role as host of the signing ceremony as a milestone in elevating Việt Nam’s international standing and raised expectations that the convention will strengthen cooperation in investigating cybercrime.
- However, the fact that the convention was signed in Việt Nam has also sparked controversy, as the country is often rated poorly in terms of human rights protections, particularly regarding freedom of expression and press freedom.
- The Hanoi Convention was ratified as the amended Law on Cybersecurity is set to take effect on July 1, 2026. Previously, this law had been criticized as a threat to freedom of expression on the Internet.
Diverging views: In contrast, human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have warned that the concept of “cybercrime” in the convention remains vague and could be abused to restrict freedom of expression online.
- Article 23 allows authorities to collect electronic evidence related to “any criminal offense.” This means that even when investigations or prosecutions concern conduct occurring outside cyberspace or electronic devices, authorities may still seize electronic data, request user information, or block and monitor data transmissions. In such cases, domestic law would serve as the basis for determining what constitutes a “crime.”
- Article 35 expands the scope of international cooperation among member states beyond cyber-related offenses to include all “serious crimes,” defined as offenses punishable by four years’ imprisonment or more. This has raised concerns about the potential for cross-border repression by authoritarian governments, particularly as Việt Nam has increasingly used extradition mechanisms targeting Vietnamese activists abroad.
What comes next: To date, 75 countries have signed the Hanoi Convention. Việt Nam is the second country in the world, after Qatar, to ratify it. The convention will officially enter into force 90 days after at least 40 countries become parties.
Huỳnh Lam wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on April 10, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights of the English translation.
