Rejecting more than 20 million violating items; removing sales functions of more than 500,000 creators
At the seminar "Preparate information in cyberspace transactions" held on March 14, Mr. Phan The Thang - Deputy Head of the Consumer Protection Department, National Competition Commission emphasized that the 2023 Law on Consumer Protection stipulates the responsibility of business organizations and individuals in providing information to consumers.
Accordingly, business organizations and individuals are responsible for providing accurate and complete information about products, goods, services as well as business organizations and individuals themselves. Consumer reviews of products, services and businesses also need to be provided honestly.
In particular, when a business organization or individual uses a third party to provide information, the third party must also be responsible for the accuracy, completeness and honesty of the information.
Expressing her views on the information responsibility of key consumer groups that have the influence on the online market (KOC), Ms. Dang Thuy Linh - President of APG ECO (a business with huge sales revenue on e-commerce platforms) said that KOCs need to provide product quality in a transparent and clear way when advertising.
KOC should verify product information before evaluating. When cooperating with brands, KOCs need to be transparent and clearly publicize advertising cooperation to avoid an advertising that causes misunderstanding to consumers.
An important issue that Ms. Linh raised is that during the KOC process of receiving products for evaluation - it is necessary to pay attention to legal regulations on advertising. In particular, it is only allowed to evaluate products circulating in Vietnam, allowed to do business; avoid evaluating products that are banned or services that are banned. KOC also noted that the product must have full and clear origin.
Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh - CEO of TikTok Vietnam said that after 3 years of operation in Vietnam, TikTok Shop has attracted hundreds of thousands of suppliers and a large team of content creators to participate in introducing products to tens of millions of users.
This e-commerce platform has developed a set of criteria to ensure that the product portfolios on the platform must be transparent and have full legal documents. Enterprises need to provide registration information and address to confirm identity and handle disputes. In particular, sellers and content creators need to comply with state regulations and provide honest information about the product.
"In the first 6 months of 2024, TikTok Shop has rejected more than 20 million items and removed the sales function of more than 500,000 violating content creators," Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh informed.
Fine if KOL, KOC do not provide accurate information about products and goods
Mr. Phan The Thang - Deputy Head of the Consumer Protection Department, National Competition Commission informed that the Law on Consumer Protection of Rights 2023 and Decree 55/2024 of the Government stipulate that - if a business organization or individual sponsors a KOL to provide information, the KOL is considered a third party and must be responsible as one party providing information to consumers. KOL is responsible for ensuring accurate, complete information and publicizing the sponsorship.
KOLs will be jointly responsible for providing accurate and complete information, and at the same time, are responsible for requiring business organizations and individuals to provide information, means and documents to verify the accuracy and completeness of information.
The law also stipulates a new and very important responsibility: KOLs must notify consumers in advance that they are sponsored to provide information to users.
For business organizations and individuals, similar to KOLs, when organizations and individuals sponsoring KOLs provide information, they are strictly prohibited from notifying consumers in advance about sponsorship for KOLs, to conduct trade promotion, conduct advertising, and introduce products to consumers.
The Law on Consumer Protection stipulates that organizations and individuals in business are strictly prohibited from deceiving and deceiving consumers by providing false, incomplete, and inaccurate information about products, goods, business organizations, individuals, and user reviews of products and business organizations and individuals.
Mr. Bui Thanh Thuy - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association proposed that state management agencies strengthen inspection, supervision, investigation, and verification activities to closely direct and promptly resolve through strict sanctions, deterrent, "if it is a violation of criminal law, criminal liability must be considered for criminal handling".
