In the advertisement market which has been growing rapidly, many individuals and organizations spread the ads with false information.

Many influencers, especially celebrities, have recently been found advertising for products and services which do not have high quality as advertised. 

The current Law on Advertisement doesn’t stipulate the rights and obligations of advertised product carriers, but only focuses on the obligations of organizations and individuals trading goods and services. There is no clear sanction applied to advertised product carriers.

MCST, which is drafting the law on amending articles of the Law on Advertisements, has proposed a provision about the activities of influential product carriers.

The draft law defines influential persons as experts, reputable individuals and persons who receive social attention in their specific fields, or those who have social network accounts on cross-border platforms with 500,000 followers and more 

The persons must observe regulations on advertisements and on the features and quality of goods and services.

Advertisers must sign written contracts with institutions and individuals who have goods and services and they must get consent from the institutions and individuals, as well as confirmation of the ad content before implementing advertisements. 

When posting opinions about the use of goods and services on social networks, advertisers must have concrete proof about the direct use of products.

Prior to that, in October 2023, at the MCST’s regular press conference, Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy director of the Legal Department, said the ministry has released a code of conduct about the content related to professional activities, social work activities and activities in press and media.

For the acts that violate ethical standards of conduct specified in the code of conduct, especially dishonest advertisements and false information providing to the public, KOLs/influencers will not only be punished in accordance with the Law on Advertisement, but also put under special control. 

MCST and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) will control their images and presence on mass media, on social work activities and advertisements. The celebrities who advertise falsely will be added to MIC’s Black List.

Tinh Le