National Assembly Delegate Doan Nghe An: Need an effective management mechanism for multinational digital platforms

Overview of the discussion session at Group 16 including National Assembly deputies from the delegations: Nghe An, Phu Yen, Tay Ninh. Photo: Quang Vinh

PROTECTING CONSUMER SHOPPING ONLINE

Regarding the draft Law on Consumer Rights Protection (amended), delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province expressed concern when the draft is explaining the term "consumer" as an individual, while according to the current Law, consumers are not only individuals but also organizations.

National Assembly Delegate Delegation of Nghe An at the discussion session of Group 16. Photo: Quang Phuc

Through studying the experiences of other countries, some countries define consumers as individuals only, but some countries define consumers as both individuals and organizations. Some legal experts believe that the current law stipulating that consumers include organizations is a step forward.

“In this relationship, consumers as organizations are also in a weak position and need to be protected; therefore, it is necessary to assess the impact of excluding consumers as organizations from the draft law,” Ms. An Chung commented.

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province spoke at the discussion. Photo: Quang Vinh

Delegate of Nghe An delegation Hoang Thi Thu Hien - Permanent Vice President of the Provincial Women's Union agreed with the viewpoint of removing the phrase "rights" and naming it the Law on Consumer Protection when amending this law because the draft Law not only regulates the rights but also the responsibilities of consumers.

Ms. Hoang Thu Hien suggested that this revised Law should have stricter and more specific regulations and ensure feasibility to prevent the abuse of phone calls to harass consumers to introduce products, which is very popular nowadays, especially related to real estate. "This makes consumers very annoyed," Ms. Thu Hien said.

On the other hand, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation also suggested that there should be additional strict regulations to protect consumer rights in online purchases; including regulations on compensation responsibilities or the right to return goods if they are not as advertised or introduced by the seller.

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time delegate of Nghe An Delegation spoke at the discussion. Photo: Quang Vinh

Also related to this draft law, Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time delegate of Nghe An Delegation proposed to add that consumers must also be responsible before the law for their information; must compensate individuals and business organizations if consumers provide false information causing damage.

Mr. Pham Phu Binh - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee suggested that the draft Law should consider separately regulating policies on goods and policies on services; it should clarify which content can be regulated in general, which content needs separate regulations to ensure a strict legal basis for consumers.

Along with that, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation also stated that the development and completion of regulations on control mechanisms, encouragement and support for entities to promote sustainable production and consumption is one of the new policies, anticipating and following the general trend of the world.

Mr. Pham Phu Binh - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, delegate of Nghe An Delegation spoke at the discussion. Photo: Quang Phuc

However, according to him, when studying the impact assessment report of the draft Law, there was no assessment of the financial impact of businesses complying with regulations to ensure environmental standards.

On the other hand, the entire draft Law does not have any provisions to institutionalize this policy, nor does it specifically require the responsibility of the producer as well as the responsibility of the consumer in participating in ensuring sustainable production and consumption. “In my personal opinion, we need to specify this policy in the draft Law,” said Mr. Pham Phu Binh.

MANAGING TRANSNATIONAL DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Delegate Nguyen Van Chi - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee said that the adjustment of the Law on Electronic Transactions is appropriate because the current Law was issued in 2005, and after 17 years, all information technology infrastructure has changed very differently.

However, delegate Nguyen Van Chi expressed concern about the provisions in the draft law on digital signatures and other digital certifications implemented on electronic platforms; because these are relatively sensitive and complicated fields, although science and technology have made more progress.

Ms. Nguyen Van Chi - Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, delegate of Nghe An Delegation, spoke at the discussion. Photo: Quang Vinh

Based on the analysis of related aspects, especially the feasibility of application, according to the delegates' opinions, it is not necessary to rush to include these issues in the content of this amendment to the Law on Electronic Transactions, but it is possible to base on future reality to make appropriate adjustments.

Regarding the responsibility of the information system owner, delegate Nguyen Van Chi emphasized the need to include provisions related to the above issue in the law. However, based on the draft Law, delegate Doan Nghe An suggested that it is necessary to stipulate more clearly the coordination between State management agencies and digital platform providers regarding the process and methods of coordination in handling cases where information is illegal or there are violations.

Also regarding the content related to the responsibility of managing the information system, including the largest platforms: Facebook, Google, TikTok, the draft Law on Electronic Transactions (amended), delegate Dang Xuan Phuong - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education commented that the draft Law has not yet applied a control mechanism.

Mr. Dang Xuan Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, delegate of Nghe An Delegation, spoke at the discussion. Photo: Quang Vinh

Specifically, he said that the new draft Law provides a few more measures to publicly announce general principles and parameters or criteria used to make recommendations for displaying advertising content or to arrange and notify independent specialized staff to monitor compliance with the responsibilities of the information system owner, that is, only publish notices and arrange specialized staff to control.

“Thus, the responsibility of this transnational digital platform has not been clarified; nor has there been an effective management mechanism,” the delegate of the Nghe An delegation assessed, adding that we do not have technical measures as well as a legal corridor, but the draft Law should have addressed the principles of how to apply technical measures to manage transnational digital platforms. This creates inadequacies and unequal treatment between transnational digital platforms and those of Vietnam.