TikTok needs to tighten censorship of links in advertisements
Lao Dong Newspaper received feedback from many users about when watching advertising videos on TikTok, they click on the link attached to the advertising content and are redirected to external websites with signs of forgery. These websites use images of famous KOL/KOC, professional interface design, branded goods advertising at unusually cheap prices to create trust.
After ordering and paying, buyers receive products of unknown origin, poor quality, unable to contact sellers, while the website also quickly stopped operating. According to Lao Dong's records, the business information and business address written on the order are not real.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper about the above reflection, a representative of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that TikTok currently provides many different types of services. In which, TikTok is a social network platform, subject to the regulation of law on management, provision and use of internet services, information on the network; while TikTok Shop is an e-commerce platform, subject to the regulation of law on e-commerce and related guiding documents.
Regarding the case reported by Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that although advertisements are distributed on the TikTok platform, consumers are led to an independent website to make transactions. Therefore, in essence, this is not a buying and selling activity taking place on TikTok Shop.
According to a representative of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, the use of KOL/KOC images without the consent of the subject to attach links to advertise products with signs of being counterfeit or fake goods is a violation of the law.
This act not only infringes upon the rights and interests of celebrities but also affects genuine businesses. Illegal use of brand image or taking advantage of brand reputation to promote goods with signs of counterfeiting directly affects the reputation, revenue and intellectual property rights of businesses. For KOL/KOC, being impersonated can seriously damage reputation, professional reputation as well as community trust. Meanwhile, consumers are easily deceived by the image of celebrities or genuine brands, thereby buying fake goods, counterfeit goods or becoming victims of fraudulent acts, causing damage to property and legitimate rights.
Representatives of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy emphasized that, in its role as a social network platform provider, TikTok is responsible for preventing and removing illegal information at the request of competent state agencies, and at the same time providing information about organizations and individuals related to online advertising activities showing signs of violations when requested.
Assessing the mechanism for censoring advertising content, advertisers and links to external websites on TikTok, representatives of the Department said that TikTok as well as many cross-border platforms have invested significantly in censorship technology.
However, the current mechanism still mainly focuses on controlling the display content of videos or advertising images, while assessing the safety and reliability of links to external websites is still limited.
This is a loophole for subjects to take advantage of such as continuously creating new websites after old websites are handled; using domain names similar to genuine brands; using images, videos or AI technology to impersonate celebrities to create trust; continuously changing advertising accounts and websites to avoid detection; and at the same time taking advantage of the automatic advertising distribution mechanism to reach a large number of users in a short time before being handled.
Will coordinate to review and handle violating accounts
From the perspective of state management of e-commerce, the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy said that currently many e-commerce platforms have deployed technologies to verify sellers, brand identity, detect fake websites and analyze fraudulent behavior.
These are also solutions that TikTok can continue to expand to apply to its entire ecosystem, not only limited to TikTok Shop but also advertising activities on social network platforms, in order to minimize the risk of consumers being redirected to websites showing signs of law violations," said a representative of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy.
According to the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, when receiving feedback or detecting websites, accounts or links showing signs of taking advantage of the e-commerce environment to trade in counterfeit goods, fake goods, prohibited goods or commit fraud, the Department will coordinate with competent authorities to transfer information to serve verification and handling according to the provisions of law.
In addition, within the scope of state management of e-commerce, the Department will coordinate and exchange with e-commerce platforms to review and handle accounts, booths and business activities showing signs of violations on the platform.
Lao Dong Newspaper has sent questions to TikTok to clarify the mechanism for censoring links in advertisements related to reader feedback. However, up to now, TikTok has not yet had an official response. Lao Dong Newspaper will continue to update information about the case when there is feedback from TikTok.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper had a series of articles reflecting the situation of users being led to websites showing signs of fraud through advertising on TikTok.
Article 1: "Clicking on TikTok ads, users fall into sophisticated scam traps".
Article 2: "Closing orders via TikTok and orders with no way out: Buyers wearily demand their rights".
Article 3: "Watching TikTok ads leads to buying fake goods: Platforms need to be responsible".
