Focus on solutions to change the current state of online advertising

DNHN - This was also the main content at the conference on online advertising on March 26 in Hanoi. Accordingly, businesses and advertising agencies have agreed to expand the “White List” to change the current state of advertising in the future.

At the conference on online advertising on the afternoon of March 26 in Hanoi, Mr Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information - Ministry of Information and Communications, announced some results achieved after the implementation of advertising with Black List and White List.

Black List is a list of social media channels and websites with malicious content, violating the law and brands are required to ban advertising on it, while White List is a list of licensed units with clean content, recommended for advertising. This is a solution proposed by the Ministry of Information and Communications at the end of 2022 and implemented in 2023.

Assessing one year after implementing Decree 70 on the management of online advertising, Mr Le Quang Tu Do said that the Ministry of Information and Communications has reviewed and announced the Black List including 47 pages and Facebook accounts with signs of violating the law, 102 YouTube channels with signs of violating the law, 403 electronic information pages with signs of violating the law.

Mr Le Quang Tu Do also said: In the past time, large advertising companies have all focused on using the Blacklist, proactively building the Blacklist recommended by the Ministry of Information and Communications. Businesses, advertising agencies and brands have also supported the Ministry of Information and Communications in not cooperating in advertising with KOLs and celebrities who have violated the law.

In addition, advertising units have also cooperated with the Ministry of Information and Communications, directly with the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information to fight against cross-border platforms, requiring these platforms to operate in Vietnam to ensure safety for brands, advertisers; must strengthen filters, technical measures so that businesses can be assured when advertising on the platform.

Therefore, in 2023, YouTube blocked and removed 25 channels with reactionary, malicious content, 5 times more than in 2022. The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information has fined 10 businesses and warned 15 businesses providing advertising services for wrongdoings. Also in 2023, the Whitelist recommended for advertising activities has been built and announced, so far there have been about 4,000 pages, channels of both press, social networks and general electronic newspapers.

“Although awareness has been raised and stricter measures have been taken, many advertising agencies still continuously violate the law, with some large businesses violating 2-3 times, allowing advertisements to be installed in content that violates the law, with no drastic solutions to end the violations” - Mr Do clearly stated.

According to the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, this is because advertisers are subjective, chasing after efficiency and profit, and have not fully applied the BlackList and White List solutions recommended by the Ministry. Many cross-border platforms have not cooperated, after the malicious channel is locked, the channel owner “easily opens a new channel within five minutes”.

At the conference, some advertisers and large brands in Vietnam said they supported the Ministry’s solution. However, they also raised some challenges, such as the White List being narrow, and not ensuring advertising targets for brands.

The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information also agreed with this view and said that in addition to the list of licensed press agencies, the new White List group of social media channels is only at 2,000. Meanwhile, advertising agencies say they need at least 15-20 thousand channels for campaigns.

To improve, the Department has proposed an expanded White List solution, aiming to provide a list of clean channels large enough for brands and advertising agencies.

To build an expanded White List, Mr Do said that three measures will be implemented: inviting multi-channel networks (MCNs) in Vietnam to submit a list of channels they manage for supplementation; brands can also propose a list of advertising partners; and the Ministry also opens a registration portal for content creators to actively register for the list.

“We estimate that tens of thousands of social media channels will be added to the list. When we have innovated and advertisers violate the law, there will be strong measures”, said Mr Do.

According to the Department’s proposal, for cases of repeated administrative violations, the Ministry of Information and Communications will have a mechanism to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security for handling.

Speaking at the conference, emphasising the common goal of ensuring that online content is healthy, and changing for better online advertising activities, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam hopes that businesses and advertising units as “insiders” will contribute ideas, propose appropriate and effective methods and approaches, demonstrating responsibility to the advertising industry and society.

Suggesting an option for units and businesses to work together to build a set of common codes of conduct for the online advertising industry, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam also said that it is necessary to expand not only the Whitelist but also the Blacklist. In addition, the Departments of Information and Communications in the coming time need to work with the Ministry of Information and Communications and businesses providing advertising services to expand the Blacklist and Whitelist. Which, the Blacklist needs to be expanded to include content shared on the network, even if it is not prohibited but is not following values, ethics, and standards.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam emphasised: To protect the safety of brands, and build a healthy, safe and fair competitive advertising business environment between domestic and foreign businesses, the Ministry of Information and Communications will continue to implement solutions to ensure the implementation of the goal: Support and prioritise advertising on Vietnamese digital media platforms in particular and platforms that comply with the provisions of Vietnamese law in general. The Ministry of Information and Communications will coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities to strengthen the inspection, examination and handling of violations of online advertising activities. Cross-border advertising businesses that do not comply with Vietnamese law will not be allowed to operate in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam requested the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information to consider the expansion of the Whitelist as an important task but also to inform that the Whitelist is a recommended list, a list that state management agencies coordinate with units and associations to issue at a certain point in time.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Lam also called on domestic companies that are advertising abroad to use technology to verify the Whitelist channel quickly, and to recognise the Whitelist channel by technology to push advertising quickly and at the best price.

Speaking at the conference, a representative of Dentsu Advertising Company said that the company has used the White List since 2021 and the list that the company has built itself is longer than that of the Ministry of Information and Communications. Emphasising that implementing advertising on the White List is a top priority and agreeing with the list provided by the Ministry.

But the representative of Dentsu also stated the current situation: Sometimes, after just one night, some cases from the White List can go to the Black List, changing very quickly, so the Ministry needs to control this list.

Responding to the request, Mr Do affirmed that “The White List will not be “closed” but will be “dynamic”. The White List will be controlled, updated regularly, and have a mechanism for assessment and control”.

Representatives of large advertising companies such as WPP, Omicom, VCCorp, Public Media, etc. all expressed their support for this orientation because they believe that expanding the White List will create more favourable conditions for businesses to operate, helping the digital environment become cleaner.

Minh Anh