Enhancing digital skills to help teenagers protect themselves online.

A key highlight of the program was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Cybersecurity Association (NCA) and TikTok on the implementation of cybersecurity communication activities. Under the agreement, TikTok becomes a strategic partner of the NCA in training programs, disseminating knowledge, and raising public awareness online safety, personal data protection, and risk prevention in the digital environment.

Within the framework of this new collaboration, the MSD Institute will work with TikTok to promote communication and support digital literacy and skills for young people. The parties will also jointly implement various campaigns to raise awareness among parents, students, and the community online risks, thereby contributing to reducing harmful behaviors towards children and young people.

At the seminar, Colonel Ha Van Bac, Deputy Director of the Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department (A05 - Ministry of Public Security), emphasized that protecting children in the online environment needs to be implemented comprehensively, with the synchronized participation of families, schools, technology platforms, and the entire society.

According to Colonel Ha Van Bac, families need to listen to and support their children; schools must strengthen digital skills education ; technology platforms need to enhance their responsibility in protecting young users; while social organizations, experts, and the media need to disseminate knowledge, skills, and safe online behavior. In particular, he believes that young people need to be empowered to their experiences, reflect on the problems they encounter, and directly participate in building solutions for the digital environment.

One of the highlights of the program was the announcement of preliminary data from the "Voices of Vietnamese Children 2026" survey conducted by the MSD Institute on over 2,500 children aged 12-15. The results showed that approximately 9 out of 10 teenagers reported having learned or accessed content related to online safety. However, 9 out of 10 also reported having directly or indirectly faced risks in the digital environment.

According to Ms. Nguyen Phuong Linh, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development Management Research (MSD), these figures show that a large gap still exists between theoretical awareness and the practical coping abilities of children in cyberspace. This requires closer guidance from families, schools, and relevant stakeholders.

To help bridge this gap, the "Teenagers Speak 2026" program has implemented the "Solution Labs" model – an interactive and co-design space where teenagers, parents, and stakeholders participate in discussions, critiques, and directly propose solutions for the digital environment.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Linh argues that young people should not be seen merely as a passive group needing protection, but also as "architects" with their own voices and perspectives to jointly build a civilized online environment. When given the opportunity to participate and be listened to, young people can proactively utilize technology to develop themselves, while contributing to creating a safer, kinder, and more humane digital space.

Besides strategic solutions, the discussion also emphasized the role of parents in supporting their children through technological tools. According to Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh, Representative of TikTok Vietnam, the platform is providing many safety and privacy features for families, including the "Smart Family" feature. This tool allows parents to link their children's accounts to manage screen time, monitor activity status, control content, and set age-appropriate safety settings.

According to Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh, TikTok is committed to building a safe and positive online environment for Vietnamese users, especially young people. Through cooperation with the National Cybersecurity Association, the platform will continue to collaborate on producing media content to raise public awareness cybersecurity, while also supporting the prevention and mitigation of risks when using digital platforms.

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