Promulgation Date: 2023-2-25 Title: Measures on the Administration of Internet Advertising Document Number:国家市场监督管理总局令第72号 Expiration date: Promulgating Entities:State Administration for Market Regulation Source of text: https://gkml.samr.gov.cn/nsjg/fgs/202303/t20230320_353974.html Breakdown of key content:
Article 1: These Measures are drafted on the basis of the PRC Advertising Law (hereinafter the “Advertising Law”) the PRC E-commerce Law (hereinafter E-commerce Law) and other laws and administrative regulations, so as to regulate internet advertising activities, protect consumers' lawful rights and interests, promote the healthy development of the internet advertising industry, and to preserve fair competition in the market economic order.
Article 2: The provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures apply to commercial advertising activities carried out within the mainland territory of the People's Republic of China using websites, web pages, internet applications, and other internet media, in forms such as text, images, audio, or video, to either directly or indirectly market goods or services.
Follow the provisions of laws, administrative regulations, departmental regulations, compulsory state standards, and other relevant state provisions requiring the display, alert, or notification of information.
Article 3: Internet advertisements shall be truthful and lawful, adhere to the correct orientation, present the advertising content in a healthy manner, and meet the requirements for the construction of a socialist spiritual civilization and carrying forward the exceptional traditional Chinese culture.
The use of the internet to engage in advertising activities shall comply with laws, regulations, goodfaith and credit, and fair competition.
The state is to encourage and support the carrying out of public interest internet advertising and publicity activities, transmitting the Core Socialist Values and exceptional traditional Chinese culture, and advocating civility.
Article 4: The provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures related to advertisement publishers apply to natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations using the internet to publish advertising for advertisers or the Advertising agents they have retained.
The provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures related to internet information service providers apply to natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations using the internet to provide information services; the provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures related to advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall apply to activities such as engaging in internet advertisement design, production, representation, or publication.
Article 5: In accordance with Laws, regulations, departmental rules, and charters, advertising industry associations are to draft industry specifications, self-discipline conventions, and group standards, to strengthen industry self-discipline and guide members to actively practice the Core Socialist Values and engage in internet advertising activities in accordance with law, promoting the establishment of creditworthiness and the healthy development of the industry.
Article 6: Units or individuals must not use the internet to design, produce, represent, or publish advertisements for goods or services the production or sale of which is prohibited by laws or administrative regulations, as well as goods or services for which advertising is prohibited.
It is prohibited to use the internet to publish advertisements for tobacco (including electronic cigarettes).
It is prohibited to use the internet to publish advertisements for prescription medicines, but where laws and administrative regulations provide otherwise, follow those provisions.
Article 7: The advertisement review organs shall conduct a content review before the publication of advertisements that laws and administrative regulations provide a review shall be conducted of, such as advertisements for medical care, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, pesticides, veterinary medicine, health foods, and special foods for medical purposes; and they must not be published without the review.
Internet advertisements that require review shall be published in strict accordance with the content that passed review and must not be edited, spliced, or revised. Where it is necessary to revise the content of advertising that has already passed review, an application for a new review shall be made.
Article 8: It is prohibited to use means such as health and fitness explanations to indirectly publish advertisements for medical care, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health foods, and special foods for medical purposes.
Content such as the address, contact information, or purchasing links for business or service providers offering medical care, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health foods, and special foods for medical purposes, must not appear on the same page or at the same time as health and fitness explanations.
Article 9: Internet advertisements shall be distinguishable and shall enable consumers to identify them as advertisements.
Advertisement publishers shall clearly label paid listings for products and services as “advertisements” and clearly distinguish them from natural search results.
Beyond the forms of advertising that laws and administrative regulations prohibit the publication or indirect publication of, where explanations, experience sharing, consumer reviews, and other forms are used to promote goods and services and have purchasing links or other means of purchase attached, the advertisement publishers shall clearly label them as “advertisements”.
Article 10: Where internet advertisements are published in forms such as pop-ups, the advertisers and advertisement publishers shall clearly indicate the symbol for closing them to ensure they can be closed with a single click, and must not have the following situations:
(1) not having a close symbol or setting a time period before advertisements can be closed;
(2) Having close symbols that are fake, difficult to identify, or difficult to locate, erecting barriers to closing the advertisements;
(3) requiring two or more clicks to close advertisements;
(4) Having advertisements that continue to pop-up after closure while visiting the same page or document, impacting users’ normal use of the network;
(5) Other conduct that impacts one-click closure.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to the opening screen advertisements that are displayed or published when applications are initiated.
Article 11: The following methods must not be used to trick or mislead users into clicking or browsing advertisements:
(1) Fake alerts such as for system or software updates, error reports, checks, or notices;
(2) Fake symbols such as play, start, pause, stop, or return symbols;
(3) Fake promises of prizes;
(4) Other methods of tricking or misleading users into clicking or browsing on advertisements.
Article 12: Websites, web pages, internet applications, public accounts, and other internet media aimed at minors must not be used to publish advertisements for medical care, medicine, health foods, medical-use foods, medical instruments, cosmetics, alcohol, or beauty, as well advertisements for online games that are not conducive to minors' physical and psychological health.
Article 13: Advertisers shall bear responsibility for the veracity of internet advertisements' content.
Where advertisers publish internet advertisements, their entity credentials, administrative permits, and cited content shall comply with the requirements of laws and regulations, and the related supporting documents shall be truthful, legal, and valid.
Advertisers may publish advertisements themselves on websites they have established, as well as internet media such as their own client terminals, internet applications, public accounts, and online stores, and may also retain Advertising agents and advertisement publishers to publish advertisements.
Where advertisers publish internet advertisements themselves, their conduct in publishing advertisements shall comply with the requirements of laws and regulations, and they are to establish an archive of advertisements and promptly update it. The storage time for the archives is to be at least three years from the date on which publication of the advertisement concludes.
When revising the content of internet advertisements for which advertisers entrusted the publication, they shall promptly give notice in writing or other verifiable forms to the advertising agents or advertisement publishers that are providing them with services.
Article 14: Advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall follow the provisions below to establish and complete management systems for registrations, reviews, and archiving connected to their internet advertising operations:
(1) Inspect and register advertisers information such as their names, addresses, and valid contact information; establish advertising archives and regularly check and update them; record and store electronic data related to advertising activity; with an archiving and storage period of at least 3 years from the date on which publication of an advertisement was concluded;
(2) Check supporting documents related to advertising and advertising content: internet Advertising agents must not provide design, production, or representation services for, and advertisement publishers must not publish, advertisements that have non-compliant content, have failed to obtain appropriate administrative permits, or have otherwise incomplete supporting documents;
(3) Appoint personnel familiar with advertising laws and regulations to review advertisements, or establish an advertisement review body.
Identification information as used in these Measures includes names (full personal names), uniform social credit codes (identification numbers), and so forth.
Advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall lawfully cooperate with investigations of the internet advertising industry conducted by the departments of market regulation, promptly providing materials that are true, accurate, and complete.
Article 15: Where methods such as algorithm recommendations are used to publish internet advertisements, the rules for the algorithmic recommendation services, advertisement placement records, and so forth are to be recorded in the advertising archive.
Article 16: Internet platform operators shall employ measures to prevent and stop unlawful advertisements in the course of their provision of internet information services, and obey the following provisions:
(1) record and store the true identity information of users using their information services to publish advertisements, with a information recording and storage period of at least three years from the date on which the provision of information services concludes;
(2) Conduct monitoring and screening of advertisement conduct published using their information services, and where illegal advertisements are discovered, they shall employ necessary measures to give notice and make corrections, deletions, blocking, or disconnecting published links to stop them and store relevant records;
(3) Establish mechanisms for accepting and addressing complaints and reports, setting up convenient portals for complaints and reports or publishing the means for making them, to promptly accept and address the public's complaints and reports;
(4) Technical or other measures must not be used to disrupt or impede the monitoring of advertisements by market regulation departments;
(5) Cooperate with market regulation departments investigation of illegal internet advertising conduct, and, as required by the market regulation departments, promptly employ technical measures to store evidence related to the illegal advertisements, truthfully provide the relevant advertisement publishers’ true identity information, records of advertisement revisions, and information on transactions of the relevant goods or services;
(6) based on service agreements and platform rules, employ measures such as warnings and suspension or termination of services for users that use the information services to publish illegal advertisements,
Article 17: The use of the internet to publish or send advertisements must not impact users' normal use of the network, and paid listings must not be inserted in the search results of government affairs websites, web pages, internet applications, public accounts, and so forth.
Where a user has not consented or requested, or where the user has made a clear refusal, internet advertisements must not be sent to their vehicles, navigation equipment, or smart home electronics; advertisements or advertisement links must not be sent to users attached to emails or internet instant messaging information.
Article 18: In publishing internet advertisements containing links, the advertisers, advertising agents, and advertisement publishers shall compare the advertising content at the link below and the front-end advertisement.
Article 19: Where the sellers of goods or service providers use internet livestreaming to market goods or services, and it constitutes a commercial advertisement, they shall bear the responsibility and obligations of advertisers in accordance with law.
Where livestream studio operators are retained to provide advertisement design, production, representation, or publication services, they shall bear the responsibilities and obligations of Advertising agents and advertisement publishers in accordance with law.
Where livestream marketers are retained to provide advertisement design, production, representation, or publication services, they shall bear the responsibilities and obligations of Advertising agents and advertisement publishers in accordance with law.
Where livestream marketers make recommendations or testimonials about products or services in their own name or image, so that it constitutes a commercial endorsement, they shall bear the responsibilities and obligations of advertising spokespersons in accordance with law.
Article 20: The market regulation department for the location of the advertisement publisher is to have jurisdiction in carrying out administrative punishments for illegal internet advertising. Where it is difficult for the market regulation department for the location of the advertisement publisher to have jurisdiction over advertisers, advertising agents, and advertising spokespersons in other areas, as well as internet information service providers, they may transfer the illegal circumstances to be handled by the market regulation departments where they are located. Where advertising spokespersons are natural persons, their location is the location of the body that provides the spokesperson with management representation services, the location of the spokesperson’s household registration, or the location of their habitual residence.
Where the market regulation department for the area where the advertisers or the advertising agents are located has first discovered leads on the illegality or received complaints or reports, they may also take jurisdiction.
The market regulation department for the area where the advertisers are located is to take jurisdiction of implementing administrative punishments for advertisers with illegal self-published advertising activities.
Article 21: When market regulation departments find illegal internet advertisements, they may exercise the following powers in accordance with law:
(1) Conducting on-site inspections of venues suspected of engaging in illegal advertising.
(2) Questioning parties suspected of illegality, their legally-designated representatives or principle responsible person, and their relevant personnel; conducting investigations of relevant units or individuals.
(3) Requesting that parties suspected of illegality provide relevant supporting documents by a set time;
(4) Accessing or reproducing contracts, receipts, account books, advertisement works, and internet advertisements' data that are related to the suspected illegal advertisements, and storing the content of internet advertisements through means such as screen captures, screen recording, saving webpages, taking photos, and making audio or video recordings;
(5) Sealing or seizing advertisments, business tools, equipment and other property directly related to suspected illegal advertising;
(6) Ordering suspension of publication for suspected illegal advertising that might cause serious consequences;
(7) Other powers provided by law or administrative regulations.
When market regulation departments lawfully exercise the powers provided for in the preceding paragraph, the parties shall assist and cooperate, and must not refuse, obstruct, or conceal the true circumstance.
Article 22: Records from market regulation departments' technical monitoring of internet advertising may be used as evidence for carrying out administrative punishment or employing administrative measures against illegal advertisements.
Article 23: Where articles 6 or 12 of these Measures are violated, punished is to be given in accordance with article 57 of the Advertising Law.
Article 24: Where article 7 of the Measures is violated by publishing internet advertisements the were not reviewed or publishing internet advertisements not in accordance with the content that passed review, punishment is to be given in accordance with article 58 of the Advertising Law.
Article 25: Where articles 8 or 9 of these Measures are violated by indirectly publishing advertisements for medical care, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health-foods, or special foods for medical use, or where internet advertisements are not distinguishable, punishment is to be given in accordance with the third paragraph of article 59 of the Advertising Law.
Article 26:Where article 10 of these Measures is violated by publishing advertisements through means such as pop-ups without a clear close symbol and insuring one-click closure, punishment is to be given in accordance with the second paragraph of article 62 of the Advertising Law.
Where advertisement publishers carry out the conduct provided for in the preceding paragraph, the market regulation departments at the county level or above are to order corrections, and where corrections are refused, give a fine of between 5,000 and 30,000 RMB.
Article 27:Where article 11 of these Measures is violated by tricking or misleading users into clicking or browsing advertisements, follow the provisions of laws and administrative regulations if there are any, and where laws and administrative regulations are silent, the market regulation departments at the county level or above are to order corrections and fine advertisers, Advertising agents, and advertisement publishers between 5,000 and 30,000 RMB.
Article 28: Where the first paragraph of article 14 or articles 15 or 18 of these Measures are violated by advertising agents or advertisement publishers failing to establish and complete management systems for advertising operations, or failing to check the content of advertisements, punishment is to be given on the basis the first paragraph of article 60 of the Advertising Law.
Where paragraph 4 of article 13, articles 15 or 16, of these Measures are violated by advertisers failing to establish advertising archives are provided or failing to conduct reviews of advertising content, the market regulation departments at the county-level or above are to order corrections and may give a fine of up to 5,000 RMB.
Where advertisers, advertising agents, and advertisement publishers can prove that they performed their responsibilities in employing measures to prevent the modification of linked advertising content and provide the true name, address, and valid contact methods for the entity conducting the illegal advertising, administrative punishments may be lenient, commuted, or waived in accordance with law.
Where paragraph 3 of article 14 of these Measures is violated by Advertising agents or advertisement publishers refusing to cooperate with investigations of the internet advertising industry carried out by market regulation departments, or by providing false materials, the market regulation departments at the county-level or above are to order corrections and may give a fine of between 10,000 and 30,000 RMB.
Article 29:Where item (1), or items (3) - (5) of article 16 of these Measures are violated, follow the relevant provisions of laws and administrative regulations if any; and where the laws and administrative regulations are silent, the market regulation departments at the county level or above are to order corrections and give a fine of between 10,000 and 50,000 RMB.
Where internet platform operators violate item 2 of article 16 of these Measures by no stopping what they know or should know are illegal internet advertising activities, punishment is to be given in accordance with article 63 of the Advertising Law.
Article 30: Where the first paragraph of article 17 of these Measures is violated, follow the provisions of laws and administrative regulations if there are any, and where laws and administrative regulations are silent, the market regulation departments at the county level or above are to order corrections and fine advertisers, Advertising agents, and advertisement publishers between 5,000 and 30,000 RMB.
Where the second paragraph of article 17 of these Measures is violated by sending internet advertisements to vehicles, navigation equipment, or smart home electronics without the users' consent or request, or where the use has clearly refused, punishment is to be given in accordance with the first paragraph of article 62 of the Advertising Law; and where advertisements or advertising links are attached to emails or internet instant messaging information sent by users, the market regulation departments at the county level or above are to order corrections and give a fine of between 5,000 and 30,000 RMB.
Article 31:Administrative punishment decisions made by the market regulation departments in accordance with the Advertising Law and these Measures shall be displayed to the public through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System; where the situation is vile, the circumstances are serious, or the social harm is larger, enter persons in the List of the Untrustworthy with Serious Violations in accordance with the provisions of the Measures for the Management of the Market Regulation List of the Untrustworthy with Serious Violations.
Article 32: These Measures are to take effect on May 1, 2023. The Temporary Measures on the Administration of Internet Advertising promulgated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as order No. 87 on July 4, 2016, are simultaneously repealed.
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