Zalo is the most popular messaging app among Vietnamese children with 26.37 per cent of users preferring it, while YouTube remains the leading entertainment app in most Southeast Asian countries including Việt Nam (16.33 per cent), a study by global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky has found.

The research on anonymised data voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users, such as search queries, popular Android apps and website categories, helps understand children's preferences and interests in the first quarter of this year.

TikTok is becoming the fastest growing brand in the world with diverse and limitless content ranging from entertainment and creativity to education.

The application has attracted the attention and interest of a large number of Vietnamese kids (11.24 per cent).

The next most popular apps during the period were Facebook (10 per cent) and Chrome (8.30 per cent).

Applications that support information exchange, such as Zoom (7.79 per cent), Messenger (7.35 per cent), Teams (6.02 per cent), and Gmail (3.51 per cent), maintained their popularity amid online learning.

Sandra Lee, Kaspersky managing director for the Asia Pacific, said: “Being among the world’s most active digital citizens, it is no surprise that Vietnamese children are enthusiastic explorers of the digital world themselves.”

She, however, encouraged parents to “stay informed and commit to sitting down with their kids extensively as it is an effective way to keep their children being responsible and safe digital citizens.”

To ensure children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky recommends that parents should learn about their children's interests and online habits, read up on emerging trends, games and channels to understand how they may affect their children’s online activities, and teach children how to block and report when they see or experience something problematic.

This helps create good online etiquette and makes children feel in control.

Parents should use a reliable security solution when they are not around to shield their children from dangerous content and limit the amount of time they spend on their devices, the company said.

Besides protecting children from inappropriate online content, parental control apps also give parents the opportunity to get to know their kids' interests and hobbies, helping build closer relationships with them, it added. — VNS