The goods are not on the right board, and the platform is ＂pretending to sleep＂ … The live broadcast is ＂disaster＂. Which ＂law＂ is in charge of this matter？
On June 8, a supply chain platform in Yiwu, Zhejiang invited an anchor to bring goods. Our reporter Wu Fanshe
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With the rise of live broadcast with goods, complaints such as improper goods, worrying quality, and difficulty in protecting rights after sale have gradually increased. According to industry insiders, a black industrial chain has been formed in the live broadcast room; Some anchors don’t look at the quality of goods before bringing goods, and deceive consumers with merchants, while the platform turns a blind eye to ensure traffic. At present, there are still some problems such as lack of supervision and insufficient punishment for live broadcast.
It is said that it sells "Prairie Goose", only to find that it is an ordinary duck after arrival; The hot-selling Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are actually "top crabs" with different tastes; The anchor said in the live broadcast that the recommended product won the Nobel Prize in Cosmetics & HELIP; …
Affected by the epidemic, this year’s live broadcast of goods has been on fire again. However, some online celebrity single products without filters and beauty have been widely criticized after reaching consumers’ hands, such as improper goods, worrying quality, and difficulty in defending rights after sale. Live broadcasts frequently "roll over". Who will be responsible for anchors, businesses and platforms? How to regulate and supervise the chaos in live broadcast?
80 grams of souffle changed to 45 grams.
On June 3rd, a netizen posted on social media that he saw the souffle displayed in a well-known live broadcast room in online celebrity was big, full and bright in color, but what the netizen received after buying it was "the difference between a seller’s show and a buyer’s show": the goods were not right and the size was seriously reduced.
In this regard, the merchant explained that on June 3, 45 grams/piece was sold, which was different from the regular model of 80 grams/piece, and the price was much cheaper. Many netizens didn’t buy it. Some people commented that there was false propaganda in the live broadcast, saying that the received souffle was not only broken in skin but also bad in taste, and there was no following after finding customer service complaints. At present, the product has been removed from the Taobao store.
This kind of incident is not a case. The reporter found on the internet complaint platform that the complaints about live broadcast goods include problems such as quality guarantee, false propaganda, never delivering goods, and difficulty in refunding after sale. According to the Public Opinion Analysis Report on Consumer Rights Protection during the May 1 holiday released by China Consumers Association, during the monitoring period, 66,798 items of negative information about online shopping were collected. Taking goods in online celebrity and live broadcasting have become new ways of online shopping, and false delivery, product quality problems and after-sales service problems are relatively concentrated.
Ms. Shen in Hunan often buys flowers through live broadcast. She told reporters that the anchor will make consumers unable to see the previous comments by removing the goods from the shelves, changing stores or new links. "You can only speak in the live broadcast room. Some anchors ask customer service for after-sales, some anchors pretend to be invisible, and some will say something ugly, saying that you are here to make trouble." Ms. Zhang in Shanghai suffered from a delay in delivery of shoes in a live broadcast room, and after-sales customer service disappeared.
Prevention, evidence collection and supervision are all difficult.
According to the 45th Statistical Report on the Development of Internet in China, as of March 2020, the number of e-commerce live users reached 256 million, accounting for 37.2% of online shopping users.
Qiu Baochang, president of the E-commerce Rule of Law Research Association of the Beijing Law Society and a member of the expert committee of the China Consumers Association, believes that the aggregation effect, fan effect and amplification effect of the Internet make the role of online celebrity anchors in promoting goods far beyond the advertising effect of celebrity endorsements.
"If the live broadcast is not properly guided and regulated, it will have a great impact on the market order." Qiu Baochang pointed out that some behaviors, such as brushing comments and using unreasonable returns to brush off the virtual standard volume, have been repeatedly banned.
Xia Yu (pseudonym) is engaged in the docking service between MCN institutions and business brands in Shenzhen. He told reporters that MCN organizations talk about cooperative quotation with merchants on the basis of the number of fans in online celebrity, the data of goods brought in the past, the activity, etc. Generally, "pit fee" is collected first, and then the proportion is added.
"Pay 100,000 yuan ‘ Pit position fee ’ It is guaranteed to sell 100,000 yuan of goods, but the return rate is not guaranteed. " Xia Yu said, "There is a black industrial chain dedicated to brushing popularity and brushing. In essence, what you earn is the brand promotion money of the merchants, and then let the merchants enter the game with the goods as a cover. "
The reporter found in the e-commerce platform and QQ group that there are transactions that provide brushing services, with diverse businesses and "clearly marked prices". "All kinds of live broadcast business, first-hand price, lower than the market price, real-life fan interaction, brush dynamic rating … …” "Live people slowly brush 1000 130 yuan fans, with every 1000 3 yuan hits and 10 4 yuan reviews".
Behind all kinds of chaos, there are problems such as lack of supervision and insufficient punishment for live broadcast. Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said that some anchors didn’t look at the quality of goods before they brought the goods, and deceived consumers with the merchants. "Even if they found out that they had made a title punishment afterwards, they could quickly make a comeback with another number, and the platform turned a blind eye to ensure traffic."
Zhao Zhanling, a lawyer of Beijing Zhilin Law Firm, also pointed out that anchors and merchants have weak legal awareness and low illegal costs. In addition, the live broadcast is real-time, which is difficult to prevent beforehand, and it is also difficult to obtain evidence in the event. It is more solved by reporting and complaining afterwards, and it is also difficult to supervise, lacking supervision means and experience.
At present, there is a lack of clear legal norms and definitions
Live delivery involves anchors, merchants and platforms, and there are after-sales problems. Who should consumers look for?
A number of interviewed experts said that at present, there is no clear legal norm and definition of live broadcast, and the industry also has different interpretations.
Zhao Zhanling believes that although there is no clear legal definition of live delivery, according to the manifestation of live delivery, it conforms to the concept of e-commerce stipulated in the e-commerce law and is bound by the e-commerce law, the consumer rights protection law and the advertising law.
Does the anchor have the responsibility to "roll over" the live broadcast? Zhao Zhanling analyzed two situations in which the anchor bears legal responsibility: "First, it promotes the products it manages. In this case, its role is the product seller. If the propaganda content is false, it is suspected of fraud and it is necessary to bear the legal responsibility of one false loss and three losses; The second is to promote other businesses. In this case, its role is advertising operators and publishers, and it is necessary to fulfill the obligation to review the authenticity and legality of the advertising content of businesses as advertisers, otherwise it will bear joint responsibility. "
In Zhu Wei’s view, the existing e-commerce law does not distinguish between network service providers and e-commerce platform operators. He believes that the live broadcast platform is a network service provider on the surface, but in practice, it can be transformed into an e-commerce platform operator to a certain extent, and the anchor status has also changed from a network service user to an operator within the platform.
"But this part is not clearly stipulated in the law. Whether propaganda in sales behavior is an advertising behavior and how to define the platform responsibility is also controversial." Zhu Wei suggested that the market supervision and management department should take the lead in formulating specific implementation specifications, including new formats such as social e-commerce and live e-commerce, and classify the platforms according to categories.
In April this year, 58 network anchors were banned from registering and broadcasting live in the whole industry for five years, and the blacklist system became the first line of defense to tighten industry norms. On June 5th, eight departments, including the National Network Information Office and the nationwide campaign against pornography and illegal publications, indicated that they would launch a special rectification and standardized management action for the webcast industry for half a year, including the exploration and implementation of the management rules for live webcasting.
Recently, the Media Shopping Professional Committee of China Chamber of Commerce will take the lead in drafting the first national community standards in the industry, namely, Basic Standards for Video Live Shopping Operation and Service and Evaluation Guide for Online Shopping Integrity Service System, or make live broadcasts have rules to follow and usher in standardized development.
"Before the introduction of the law, it is a good start for the industry to formulate norms and standards to regulate the behavior of practitioners." Qiu Baochang said, "But it is more necessary to enforce the law and constantly improve and revise the corresponding laws and regulations to adapt to the development of technology and the changes in transaction forms."