In January 2026, the National Competition Commission (under the Ministry of Industry and Trade) issued a total fine of more than VND 810 million (USD $31,000) to Zalo for violating the regulations on consumer rights protection.
This move follows Zalo's update to its Terms and Conditions in December 2025, which required users to either accept or stop using the platform within 45 days. This has created tension in public and raised debate about consumer rights on the most important messaging platform in Vietnam.
The most dominant messaging platform in Vietnam
Zalo is a Vietnamese messaging platform, established in 2012. Developed by Vietnamese and operating entirely in Vietnamese, Zalo quickly gained widespread popularity across all segments of society. By the end of 2025, the platform recorded nearly 80 million users with around 2.1 billion messages sent per day.
More than messaging, Zalo also serves as a communication platform, connecting citizens with schools, residential management boards, and even government authorities. As of the end of 2024, Zalo hosted 17,273 Zalo Official Accounts (Zalo OAs) operated by state agencies and public service sectors, including healthcare and education. These accounts served more than 40 million citizens nationwide, covering all 34 provinces and cities.
In 2024, more than 70% of Vietnam’s social media users were on Zalo, placing the platform ahead of Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and TikTok. In other words, Zalo holds a dominant position in Vietnam’s online messaging and digital communication landscape, making it increasingly difficult for users to opt out.
Mounting frustration before the breaking point
Yet Zalo’s growing dominance has been accompanied by mounting user frustration. Since 2022, the company has rolled out a series of policy changes that many users perceive as increasingly restrictive.
These include the introduction of paid subscription tiers while limiting essential features for free accounts, such as the number of contacts, messages, and username searches; a reduction in cloud storage from 1GB to 500MB; fees for SMS verification for new accounts and password recovery; and subscription prices of up to VND 200,000 per month - costs many non-business users consider excessive.
Many users have also pointed out that Zalo has limitations in cross-device data backup, making it less competitive than other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Viber. However, due to its widespread popularity in Vietnamese society, leaving Zalo is no longer a realistic option, but a social cost many cannot afford.
The expanded data collection became the final straw
Zalo’s December 2025 privacy policy update became the final straw. The revised terms required users to consent to expanded data collection - including national identification data, family information, location, and content interaction - or stop using the platform within 45 days. The policy also included clauses that exempt Zalo from liability in the event of data leaks and allow the company to collect, share, and transfer user data among companies under VNG, Zalo’s parent group.
To many users, the update transformed years of accumulated frustration into a moment of reckoning. Experts argue that the controversy goes beyond the question of whether platforms can collect data.
“The core issue is not that a platform collects data, but how that data is collected, for what purposes, and how much control users are given. When users are left with only an ‘agree to all’ option, consent becomes coerced—and trust is easily eroded,” said Nguyen Phu Dung, Chief Executive Officer of Pila Group JSC
As public backlash intensified in early 2026, Zalo dropped out of Google Play’s Top 200 app rankings in both the overall and social media categories, while falling to 8th place after previously always ranking first on the App Store. In contrast, rival messaging platforms such as Viber, WhatsApp, and Messenger rose to the top of the rankings. Zalo was also hit by a wave of 1-star reviews and negative comments on both App Store and Google Play.
The platform was also required to provide explaination for the National Competition Commission (Ministry of Industry and Trade). In mid-January 2026, the commission imposed an administrative fine of VND 810 million on Zalo for violations of consumer protection regulations.
Will Vietnamese switch to another app?
Following the penalty decision, VNG Group said it has demonstrated a cooperative and constructive approach, proactively coordinating with the National Competition Commission to review and update related content and policies. However, till now, no policy updates have been publicly announced to users.
Meanwhile, Zalo quickly rebounded in app store rankings, rising to second place among social media apps on the App Store and fifth on Google Play - suggesting that the backlash has no significant shift in user behaviour.
Despite the controversy, Zalo remains a platform many Vietnamese users find difficult to opt out of, given its central role in everyday communication that extends beyond personal messaging.
What may change now is not user behaviour but the closer attention from authorities, to ensure that no platform - regardless of their dominance - should compromise users’ rights without consequence.
