Vietnam: Websites shall be fined up to 15 million VND for not turning off ads after 1.5 seconds

Specifically, according to Clause 1 Article 23 of the Law on Advertising 2012 of Vietnam:

Article 23. Advertisements on electronic newspapers and websites

1. The advertisements on electronic newspapers must comply with the following provisions:

a) The advertisements must not be designed and placed among the news;

b) The unfixed advertisements must be designed so that the reader may actively activate or inactivate the advertisements. The maximum activation latency of the advertisements is 1.5 second.

Therefore, with ads that are not in a fixed area, it is necessary to ensure that the ad viewer can actively turn off or on the ad and the waiting time to perform the on and off operation is no more than 1.5 seconds.

Any enterprise failing to enable readers to actively turn on and turn off floating advertisements shall be administratively fined from 10,000,000 VND to 15,000,000 VND according to Article 55 of the Decree No. 158/2013/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government on penalties for administrative violations pertaining to culture, sports, tourism, and advertising:

Article 55. Violations against regulations on advertisements on online newspapers and websites

1. A fine of from 2,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

a) Failing to report the name and address of the Vietnamese advertiser that provides advertising services for the owner of the website of a foreign entity that provide cross-border advertising services;

b) Failing to report the provision of advertising services of a Vietnamese advertiser that provides advertising services for the owner of the website of a foreign entity that provide cross-border advertising services;

2. A fine of from 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND shall be imposed for mixing advertisements with the news.

3. A fine of from 10,000,000 VND to 15,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

a) Failing to enable readers to actively turn on and turn off floating advertisements;

b) The floating advertisement fails to be turned off or turned on within 1.5 seconds.

4. Remedial measures:

Compulsory removal of the advertisements mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article.

The regulation of advertising on and off time is in order to harmonize the interests of the advertising agency and the interests of customers who are users of electronic newspapers and websites, avoiding being disturbed in the process of using and receiving information.

Lan Anh

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