However, if it is accompanied by ambiguity in responsibility and a lack of clear control mechanism, this decision to "open" will have many potential risks for the community and consumers.
Celebrities are now not only an entertainment symbol, but also a powerful media channel. A post, a advice, a video from them can spread to millions of people in a corner. Therefore, letting them participate in advertising is inevitable in the digital economy.
However, because of that profound influence, celebrities cannot stand outside of social responsibility, especially in areas related to health, education, and community consumption.
Recent reality shows that there have been many cases of celebrities promoting poor quality products, functional foods that inflate their uses, unrealistic get-rich courses, or worse, supporting multi-level platforms, fraudulent games...
As a result, consumers lose money, lose confidence, and even affect their finances, health and even life.
In that context, the Draft Law on Advertising (amended) stipulates that celebrities must " verify the reliability of advertisers", " check product documents" and "not advertising without understanding the goods" is a remarkable step forward.
However, this step forward will not have much value if it only exists on paper, lacks clear criteria, lacks strong enough sanctions, and especially lacks a feasible implementation mechanism in the network environment.
Without specific regulations, celebrities can completely "turn around" by citing "I have watched the document", "I am not responsible for product quality", or "I only share personal experiences".
Meanwhile, the goods and services they promote are widely followed as a guarantee.
So the question is not whether celebrities should be banned from advertising or not, but how to make this activity more responsible and transparent.
influential people must understand that when they use their reputation to convey commercial content, they are becoming a part of the business system and subject to corresponding constraints.
If doctors advertise the wrong drugs and can have their certificates revoked, then celebrities who advertise the wrong functional foods, cosmetics or virtual investment floors also need to be clearly handled.
In addition, the issue of advertising on digital platforms, especially cross-border social networks, also needs to be controlled by substantive regulations, not just relying on self-awareness.
It is impossible to let the advertising revenue of Vietnamese brands be attached to toxic content, violating the law, even encouraging the flow of false and offensive information.
The law should not " tighten" celebrities with rigid administrative limits, but it is even more impossible to "release" their role as an irresponsible commercial media channel.
The greater the influence of a person, the greater the social responsibility. And the law needs to be a fulcrum to keep that spread from falling off the public interest.
