Recently, CCTV's "March 15 Party" exposed that many companies used unstrictly processed pork to make pre-made dishes of braised pork with pickles and vegetables, which aroused strong public attention. On March 18, Oriental Selection and Three Sheep Network successively issued announcements, admitting that they had carried "Yuhuiyuan Meicai Braised Pork" produced by Anhui Donghui Food Technology Co., Ltd., and apologized for this.
According to previous reports by Poster News, statistics from the State Administration for Market Regulation show that the size of the live streaming e-commerce market has increased by 10.5 times in the past five years, and the number of complaints and reports about live streaming has also increased year by year, with an increase of 47.1 times in the past five years.
Who will "pay" for the "overturned" live broadcast? The interviewed experts said that neither the anchor nor the mcn organization can be exempted from liability. Regulatory authorities should rectify and supervise leading anchors and promote the orderly development of the online shopping market.
Oriental Selection, Three Sheep Apology
Many netizens noticed that among the problematic companies and products exposed at the "March 15 Party", the "Yuhui Yuan Meicai Braised Pork" produced by Anhui Donghui Food Technology Co., Ltd. It is well-known on the Internet, and this product is sold in the "Oriental Selection" and "Crazy Little Brother Yang" live broadcast rooms.
html On March 18, Oriental Selection and Sanyang Network successively issued announcements, admitting that they had carried this type of pickled pork with pickled vegetables, and apologized for this.
Oriental Selection apologizes for selling "Yu Huiyuan Meicai Braised Pork"
"Three Sheep Network"'s apology statement. Screenshot from the official Weibo of "Three Sheep Network".
Oriental Selection said that on the morning of March 16, it decided to advance refunds for consumers. "If the merchant cannot provide strong evidence, we will further advance triple compensation to the consumer on the basis of a full refund, and resolutely hold the merchant and manufacturer accountable."
Three Sheep Network stated that it has Consumer registration will be launched on the night of March 15, and advance refunds will begin one after another.
Regarding the previous quality control link, Three Sheep Network said: "Quality control personnel conducted surprise inspections of the manufacturer's raw materials, production workshops, packaging workshops, etc. from May 4 to 5, 2023, and supervised on-site delivery conditions. During this period The video and picture evidence were retained, and no abnormalities were found at the scene, and the above evidence was reported to the relevant competent authorities for storage."
It is worth mentioning that both Oriental Selection and Three Sheep Network claim that "the manufacturer and seller Both stated that the online products did not use slotted meat in violation of regulations, and promised to provide relevant certification materials as soon as possible."
Experts: Anchors and mcn organizations cannot stay out of the matter.
In the face of this "rollover" accident, Oriental Selection and Three Sheep Network both emphasized , we will resolutely hold merchants and manufacturers accountable. So, if there is a problem with the products brought by the leading anchor, can the anchor and the MCN (multi-channel network) organization stay out of the matter as a "supplier problem"?
Ren Chao, deputy dean of the School of Economics and Law at East China University of Political Science and Law, believes that whether it is suppliers, anchors and product selection teams, or MCN organizations, they are all "grasshoppers on the same rope", playing roles in the same profit chain. Different roles ultimately transport the goods to consumers. Therefore, if there is a problem with the goods in the hands of consumers, every subject in the commodity "transportation chain" has a responsibility, but the responsibilities are different.
"Suppliers are responsible for product quality of problematic goods. If they know that the goods have problems but still allow them to circulate or even expand circulation for profit, they should be severely punished by the product quality law. The anchor and product selection team carry the responsibility of consumers The consumers have trust in their product selection. During the negotiation with suppliers and the product trial stage, no problems were found. As an operator, they should abide by the principle of good faith towards consumers and be regulated by the Consumer Protection Law. The MCN organization also Anchors and product selection teams have regulatory responsibilities stipulated by law," Ren Chao said.
The platform may bear joint liability
Improving the product selection mechanism as soon as possible is an urgent responsibility for live broadcast organizations. As for whether the platform needs to bear joint liability, Liu Yuan, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongyin Law Firm, believes that "this issue is relatively complex and controversial."
Liu Yuan pointed out that the platform at least needs to verify in time and prevent the infringement from continuing to occur through corresponding control/removal methods, but whether the platform needs to compensate is a very complicated matter.If litigation proceedings are carried out, it depends on how the court characterizes this behavior of selling goods. "If the anchor's behavior of selling goods is positioned as advertising or the platform itself is the operator, it is possible to bear joint liability."
"Consumer Rights and Interests of the People's Republic of China" Article 44 of the Protection Law shows that if consumers purchase goods or receive services through online trading platforms and their legitimate rights and interests are harmed, they may demand compensation from the seller or service provider. Article 7 of the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions" stipulates that if online service providers such as online live broadcasts provide operators with online business premises, product browsing, order generation, online payment and other online trading platform services, they shall perform online trading platform operations in accordance with the law. obligations of the person.
The products carried by top anchors frequently overturn
In recent times, it is not uncommon for the products carried by top anchors to overturn. According to the Rule of Law Daily, inquiries on social platforms and third-party evaluation platforms found that there were tens of thousands of complaints about the products sold by leading anchors. Wang Hai, a well-known anti-counterfeiter, told reporters that in recent years, he has sent nearly a hundred products of leading anchors to professional institutions for testing, and only a few of them found no problems.
From the controversy over the authenticity of the Hetian jade that Li Jiaqi was accused of selling, to the Estee Lauder facial cream empty bottle incident, to the "wrong goods" problem with the beef rolls brought by Internet celebrity Xiao Yang, and the "Oriental Selection" white shrimp produced by Dong Yonghui's team The incidents have highlighted the risks and rights protection problems existing in live streaming.
Recently, the "Public Opinion Analysis Report on Consumption Rights Protection through Live Broadcasting (2023)" released by Consumer Network, Beijing Sunshine Consumption Big Data Research Institute and other institutions showed that last year, Crazy Little Yang's public opinion rights protection accounted for 31.3%, and the rights protection ratio reached 31.3%. The problems mainly focus on false propaganda and uncivilized sales. From an industry perspective, false publicity, product quality, and price misleading have become the top three reasons for some anchors to promote product publicity.
live broadcast delivery, standard ability is far from illegal. Legal regulations such as Advertising Law, E-Commerce Law, Product Quality Law, and Consumer Rights Protection Law are all applicable to online live streaming. The "Measures for the Management of Online Live Broadcasting Marketing (Trial)" clarifies the responsibilities of all participants in live broadcast marketing. The "Opinions on Further Regulating Online Live Broadcasting Profit-making Behavior to Promote the Healthy Development of the Industry" proposes to strengthen the normative guidance of online live broadcasting profit-making behavior. The latest revised " The Internet Advertising Management Measures will include commercial advertisements that promote goods or services through Internet live broadcasts.
In recent years, my country has successively introduced a series of policies and regulations for online live broadcasts, especially live broadcasts with goods. Only by strengthening the management of e-commerce live broadcasts in accordance with the law, rectifying unhealthy trends, and punishing illegal activities can we lay a solid foundation for the healthy and orderly development of the industry. In addition, as new models and new business formats continue to emerge in the online consumer market, it is also necessary to promptly improve rules and regulations in response to new situations and changes to respond to practical problems.
Zhou Qingjie, executive director of Beijing Technology and Business University’s New Business Research Institute, believes that the current industry trend has shifted from anti-platform “choose-one” unfair competition to top anchors, who have strong influence and control over the market. , regulatory authorities should study and introduce new policies for this new situation, do a good job in rectification and supervision of leading anchors, and promote the orderly development of the online shopping market.
People's Commentary article pointed out that the prosperity and development of the online consumer market cannot be separated from the protection of the rule of law, and also requires the coordination and joint governance of multiple forces. Regulatory authorities should conscientiously perform their duties and intensify crackdowns on illegal activities related to e-commerce live broadcasts; platforms should conscientiously fulfill their management responsibilities, increase supervision, and provide guidance; merchants must strictly abide by legal regulations and strengthen self-discipline. Operate with integrity. Of course, consumers should also improve their own risk awareness, strengthen prevention of various marketing routines during online shopping, and promptly report to the platform and regulatory authorities for help if their rights and interests are damaged. If operators are more responsible and consumers are more rational, live streaming will be able to prosper and prosper steadily.
(Poster News Editor Liu Xuan Comprehensive People's Daily, Rule of Law Daily, Beijing Business Daily, China News Network, Poster News, etc.)
