On the morning of November 8, authorized by the Prime Minister, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung presented the Proposal on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising.
According to Minister Nguyen Van Hung, the draft law completes regulations on the management of advertising activities in the press, online environment and cross-border advertising services.
Amending regulations on advertising activities in printed newspapers, advertising area in printed newspapers must not exceed 30% of the total area of a newspaper publication or 40% of the total area of a magazine publication, except for newspapers and magazines specializing in advertising and must have signs to distinguish advertising from other content.
Amending regulations on advertising activities on radio and television (Article 22) on increasing advertising duration on pay TV channels; in feature film programs; displaying advertising products with official information content in the form of running text or a series of moving images.
Examining this content, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh said that there are 3 types of opinions about advertising in print newspapers as follows.
The first type of opinion agrees with the Drafting Committee on adjusting advertising space on newspapers and magazines.
The second type of opinion suggests keeping the current regulations because increasing the area to nearly half of the total area is too large for a press publication, not really reasonable and suitable for the function of our country's press as well as ensuring the rights of readers.
The third type of opinion studies the option of removing the regulation on advertising space ratio in traditional newspapers and magazines and letting press agencies decide on advertising space according to readers' needs and market regulations.
The Committee agrees with the view of increasing advertising space in newspapers and magazines to help press agencies increase revenue and better implement the financial autonomy mechanism.
However, to protect the interests of readers, it is recommended that the drafting agency study and adjust in the direction of specific regulations on the area ratio and advertising position for each type of newspaper and magazine publication.
Regarding advertising duration on pay TV channels, the majority of members of the Culture and Education Committee agreed with the proposal to assess the policy impact to clarify the basis to increase the persuasiveness of the amendment to increase advertising duration on pay TV channels from 5% to 10%.
Regarding advertising on feature films, we basically agree with the amendment and supplement in the direction of increasing the advertising duration. However, we suggest continuing to review and ensure the number of advertising breaks in feature film programs is reasonable to protect the interests of the audience. At the same time, we need to clarify the basis to increase the persuasiveness of amending this regulation.
Regarding online advertising, the Committee on Culture and Education agrees with the addition of specific regulations on online advertising. At the same time, it requests clarification of the following issues.
Firstly, the addition of regulations on online advertising needs to be compared and reviewed with specialized laws, ensuring the consistency of the legal system and ensuring coverage of all subjects of online advertising activities.
Second, agree to modify the waiting time to turn off or on online advertising to suit the reality as well as the development trend of advertising in the world. However, the adjustment of 4 times, from 1.5 seconds to 6 seconds, needs to be assessed for impact and explained carefully to ensure objectivity and persuasion.
Third, the draft law does not yet regulate advertisements containing links to personal information pages, applications on mobile devices, and other electronic devices. Therefore, it is recommended that appropriate regulations be researched.
