If advertising falsely about product brands in Vietnam, will KOLs be administratively penalized according to regulations?
Who are KOLs?
This is an acronym for Key Opinion Leaders, it means the people who influence other people on social networking platforms.
According to that, these people will often be invited to participate in brand campaigns to bring spillover values to customers. Accordingly, KOLs are classified based on the following criteria: Coverage, relevance brand and its ability to change consumer opinion.
Using KOLs in "trending" campaigns for brands will help businesses achieve desired revenue in a short time. In addition, there are other metrics such as interactions, orders.
If advertising falsely about product brands in Vietnam, will KOLs be administratively penalized according to regulations?
Is it illegal to advertise falsely about product brands in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 19 of the 2012 Law on Advertising of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Requirements for advertisement contents
1. Advertisement contents must be truthful, accurate and clear without causing damage to producers, traders and advertisement receivers.
2. The Government shall specify the requirements for the advertisement contents of special products, goods and services.
Pursuant to this regulation, when performing advertising, advertisement contents must be truthful, accurate and clear without causing damage to producers, traders and advertisement receivers.
In addition, according to Clause 9, Article 8 of the 2012 Law on Advertising of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Prohibited acts in advertising
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9. Advertising incorrectly or causing confusion about the business competence, the ability to provide products, goods and services of organizations and individuals trading and providing such products, goods and services; about the quantity, quality, prices, features, designs, package, brand name, kinds, method of service, warranty duration of the registered or announced products, goods and services.
Thus, acts of advertising false products about product brands are prohibited in advertising activities and will be handled in accordance with the law.
What are the responsibilities of KOLs in product advertising?
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 13 of the 2012 Law on Advertising of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Rights and obligations of advertising service providers
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2. Advertising service providers have the following obligations:
a) Operating within the range specified in the Certificate of business registration and observing the law provisions on advertising;
b) Examining the documents related to the advertising conditions of the advertised organizations, individuals, products, goods and services, and implement the relevant procedures under the advertising contract;
c) Being responsible for the advertisements that they directly make;
d) Providing documents related to the advertisements at the request from the advertisement receiver or competent State agencies.
...
Thus, KOLs or advertising service providers have the following responsibilities:
(1) Operating within the range specified in the Certificate of business registration and observing the law provisions on advertising;
(2) Examining the documents related to the advertising conditions of the advertised organizations, individuals, products, goods and services, and implement the relevant procedures under the advertising contract;.
(3) Being responsible for the advertisements that they directly make;
(4) Providing documents related to the advertisements at the request from the advertisement receiver or competent State agencies.
KOLs who falsely advertise product brands can be fined up to VND 80,000,000?
Pursuant to Article 34 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP stipulating fines for prohibited acts in product advertising activities as follows:
Violations against regulations regarding prohibited advertising activities
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5. Imposing the fine ranging from VND 60,000,000 to VND 80,000,000 for the act of putting false or misleading advertisements about the capability of trading or providing products, goods and services of individual or institutional traders; the quantity, quality, price, usability, design, packaging, trademark, origin, type, method of rendering or warranty period of registered or announced products, goods and services, except as specified in clause 4 of Article 51; point b of clause 4 of Article 52; clause 1 of Article 60; and point c of clause 1 of Article 61, in this Decree.
...
Thus, for acts of falsely advertising product brands, KOLs may be fined from VND 60,000,000 to VND 80,000,000 depending on the severity and consequences of the act.
In addition, when advertising falsely about trademarks, in addition to being administratively sanctioned, KOLs are also subject to additional sanctions specified in Clause 7 Article 34 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP and application of remedial measures specified in Clause 8, Article 34 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP, including:
(1) Withholding the right to use the acknowledgement of receipt of registration for product launch announcement for the duration of between 05 and 07 months; the right to use the Certificate of advertisement content for the duration ranging from 22 to 24 months, for the violations specified in point a of clause 2, point b of clause 4 and clause 5 of this Article, in case of commission of violations on advertising of health protection foods 2 or more times within the period of 06 months.
(2) Compelling the removal, demolition and deletion or erasure of advertisements or the recall of printed newspapers and magazines with advertisements in case of commission of the violations as prescribed;
(3) Forcible correction of information for false advertising about product brands.
Note, the above fine level only applies to individuals. In case organizations violate, the fine level is 2 times that of individuals.
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