National Assembly Delegate: Vietnam lost more than 1,000 billion VND from online advertising

On the afternoon of November 25, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising.

Delegate Thach Phuoc Binh ( Tra Vinh delegation) said that the advertising market share in Vietnam is currently mainly in the hands of cross-border platforms such as Facebook, Google, and TikTok.

According to a 2023 report by the Vietnam Advertising Association (VAA), these platforms account for more than 75% of advertising revenue, while traditional newspapers account for less than 10%. These platforms are often not fully registered to operate in Vietnam or are only partially registered, leading to ineffective tax management. In 2023, Vietnam lost more than VND1,000 billion from online advertising, putting pressure on the national budget revenue.

Regarding the control of online advertising content, delegates said that many online advertising contents violate public morals, advertise falsely or automatically appear on inappropriate websites.

The Information Security Department recorded more than 500,000 violating advertisements in 2023 alone. This negatively affects society, reduces consumer trust and increases the risk of online fraud.

Delegates suggested adding regulations requiring platforms to review and censor advertising content before displaying it. In addition, Mr. Binh suggested establishing strong sanctions, requiring the removal of violating content within 24 hours.

“In particular, increase the administrative fine for false advertising to 2-3 times the benefit gained; publicize the list of violating businesses as a deterrent,” the delegate from Tra Vinh proposed.

To protect consumer rights in online advertising, delegate Thach Phuoc Binh requested that advertisements must clearly state product and service information, responsible unit and after-sales support mechanism.

Contributing opinions to the draft Law, delegate Chamaléa Thi Thuy ( Ninh Thuan delegation) was concerned about the State's management of advertising that does not comply with regulations. To ensure the safety of the people, the delegate requested that the draft Law should clearly stipulate the agency responsible for advertising activities...

According to Chamaléa Thi Thuy, currently, advertising activities or content with advertising messages posted on the network environment in the form of articles and videos on personal pages such as Facebook, Zalo, Tiktok are very diverse. There is a lot of unverified information but it is spread widely and publicly on the network.

The authorities also have measures to handle and prevent advertising activities that are not in accordance with regulations, but they have not yet met practical requirements. Therefore, in amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Advertising Law this time, delegates hope that the supplemented regulations must ensure effectiveness in State management of advertising.

In addition, the Drafting Committee of the Law needs to continue to research and review carefully to make appropriate and feasible regulations, avoiding shirking responsibility in State management of advertising. In addition, it is also necessary to carefully research the regulations on the order and procedures for verifying, identifying, and concluding advertising messages and regulations and levels of handling violations to be appropriate and appropriate.

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