State Administration for Market Regulation: Internet advertisements without identifiable advertisers should bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

On August 23, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Guidelines for Identifiability of Internet Advertising Enforcement", stating that internet advertising should be identifiable and not misleading to consumers. If internet advertising is not identifiable, the advertiser should bear legal responsibility. If the advertiser posts internet advertising on their own, they should bear the responsibility of the advertiser. If internet platform users use platform information services to post ads, they are considered advertisers. Internet platform operators who post internet advertising or use artificial, algorithmic methods to interfere with natural ranking, influence display effects, attach shopping links, and constitute advertising, should be identified as advertisers. The announcement by the State Administration for Market Regulation regarding the release of the "Guidelines for Identifiability of Internet Advertising Enforcement" is as follows: Based on the laws and regulations such as the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising", the State Administration for Market Regulation has formulated the "Guidelines for Identifiability of Internet Advertising Enforcement" and hereby announces it. State Administration for Market Regulation August 22, 2024 Guidelines for Identifiability of Internet Advertising Enforcement In order to regulate the enforcement of identifiability of internet advertising, help consumers distinguish between internet advertising and non-advertising information, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, these guidelines have been formulated in accordance with the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Advertising Law") and the "Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising". These guidelines aim to provide guidance for carrying out enforcement of identifiability of internet advertising, for reference by local market regulatory authorities in their work. The term internet advertising in these guidelines refers to commercial advertising that promotes goods or services directly or indirectly through internet media such as websites, web pages, and internet applications using text, images, audio, video, or other forms within the territory of the People's Republic of China. Identifiability of internet advertising in these guidelines refers to the ability of internet advertising to be distinguished from other non-advertising information, enabling consumers to recognize it as advertising. Whether or not "advertising" is prominently marked is not the basis for determining advertising. Market regulatory authorities should determine whether relevant commercial information falls under the category of advertising in accordance with Article 2 of the Advertising Law and Article 2 of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising. Internet advertising should be identifiable and not misleading to consumers. If internet advertising is not identifiable, the advertiser should bear legal responsibility. If the advertiser posts internet advertising on their own, they should bear the responsibility of the advertiser. When a user of an internet platform uses platform information services to post ads, that user is considered the advertiser. If the operator of an internet platform posts internet advertising, or uses artificial, algorithmic methods to interfere with natural ranking, influence display effects, attach shopping links, and constitute advertising, the internet platform operator should be identified as the advertiser. Advertisers (or advertisers who post ads on their own, the same below) can enhance the identifiability of internet advertising through methods such as text annotations or voice prompts. If text annotations are used, the word "advertising" should be prominently marked. If voice prompts are used, a clear voice prompt stating "advertising" should be provided. Advertisers and internet information service providers can establish special areas and prominently mark them as "advertising" or in other explicit ways to inform users that all commercial information within that area is advertising, which can be considered as having identifiability in that area. For websites, web pages, internet applications, etc., by prominently marking "advertising" or explicitly informing users that all commercial information on the website, web page, internet application, etc. is advertising, the provisions of the preceding paragraph apply. Internet advertising can be considered identifiable in the following cases: (1) Goods operators or service providers post ads for their own products or services through their own websites, web pages, internet applications, etc.; (2) Goods operators or service providers post ads for their own products or services through internet platforms in legally acquired network spaces, and disclose their identity as goods operators or service providers to consumers through their account names, store names, etc.; (3) Other cases where commercial advertising attributes are prominent and easily recognizable by consumers. Internet live marketing activities that constitute advertising can be considered identifiable if one of the following situations applies: (1) The operator of the live broadcast room or the live marketing personnel prominently mark themselves as goods operators or service providers throughout the live marketing activities, or consumers can identify their identities through their account names; (2) The live content is prominently marked as advertising on the live page; (3) The start and end points of the advertising time period are prominently marked or clearly announced during the live broadcast. Market regulatory authorities should investigate and handle the following behaviors in accordance with Article 14 of the Advertising Law, Article 9 of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising, and other regulations: (1) Failing to prominently mark (or clearly indicate) "advertising" for goods or services in paid search results; (2) Failing to prominently mark "advertising" for internet advertising that promotes goods or services through knowledge sharing, experience sharing, consumer testing, and other forms, with additional shopping links for purchasing, unless prohibited by laws or regulations; (3) Failing to prominently mark "advertising" for advertising in internet content streams such as news, internet audio-visual content; (4) Posting other internet advertising that lacks identifiability. Market regulatory authorities should investigate and handle unlawful acts of publishing internet advertising in the form of news reports. Except for conducting public opinion surveillance, emergency measures related to product quality needs, poverty alleviation, personal health assistance, and other public welfare activities, if news reports contain the operating addresses, contact information, shopping links, etc. of corresponding goods operators or service providers, this should be considered an important factor in determining the unlawful act of publishing advertising in the form of news reports. Market regulatory authorities should take administrative enforcement actions against internet advertising that lacks identifiability.Punishment should be based on the "Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China," the "Advertising Law," the "Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising," and the State Administration for Market Regulation's "Guiding Opinions on Standardizing the Discretionary Power of Administrative Penalties in Market Supervision and Management," as well as other relevant laws and regulations. The discretionary power of administrative penalties should be exercised in accordance with the facts, nature, circumstances, degree of social harm, and subjective faults of the illegal acts, in order to standardize the exercise of administrative penalty discretion.Thirteen, in the supervision and law enforcement of market supervision departments, if the internet advertising publisher violates the regulations on the recognizable characteristics of internet advertising for the first time, the harmful consequences are minor and corrected in a timely manner, they may not be punished according to law. Fourteen, internet advertising publishers should prominently mark "advertisement" and encourage them to indicate the identity of the advertiser. For advertisements generated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology or deep synthesis technology, advertising publishers are encouraged to provide prompts such as "This advertisement uses AI technology," "This advertisement uses deep synthesis technology," "This advertisement is generated by AI technology." Fifteen, internet platform operators can improve the platform rules and service agreements on the recognizability of internet advertising based on laws and regulations as well as this guideline, provide convenience for platform users to fulfill the obligations of internet advertising recognizability, indicate the identity of the advertiser, and not obstruct platform users from making text annotations, voice prompts, etc. in accordance with the law. Sixteen, industry associations, internet platform operators, etc., can formulate industry norms, self-discipline agreements, group standards, or corporate standards based on laws and regulations as well as this guideline to strengthen industry self-discipline. This article is selected from the State Administration for Market Regulation, edited by GMTEight: Chen Wenfang.