Zhejiang Regulates Online Live Streaming Marketing: Crackdown on Fake Content and Personalities
Hangzhou, China – In a move to combat deceptive practices in the booming online live streamingindustry, Zhejiang province has released a comprehensive set of guidelines aimed at regulating network live streaming marketing behavior. The Guidelines for Network Live Streaming Marketing Behavior in Zhejiang Province (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines), released by the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, outlines a detailed list of compliance requirements for businesses and addresses the unique challenges posed by therise of AI-powered digital personas.
The Guidelines target a wide range of deceptive tactics, including:
- Fake Traffic Generation: Prohibiting the use of misleading advertising to artificially inflate viewer numbers and engagement metrics.
- Confusing Formats: Preventing businesses from blurring the lines between genuine content and promotional material, ensuring transparency in marketing efforts.
- Fake Experts, Fake Personalities, and Fake Events: Outlawing the creation offabricated credentials, experiences, and relationships to mislead consumers into believing in the authenticity of products or services.
- Misleading Claims: Restricting exaggerated claims about product efficacy, functionality, and benefits, especially in sensitive areas like healthcare, education, and finance.
- Deceptive Promotions: Disallowing the use offalse or misleading information regarding discounts, deals, and promotions.
- Fabricated Certifications and Data: Prohibiting the use of fake certifications, test results, and data to enhance product credibility.
- Creating False Urgency: Preventing businesses from using deceptive tactics to create a sense of artificial scarcity or urgencyto pressure consumers into purchasing.
- Fake Endorsements: Disallowing the use of false or misleading endorsements by celebrities or influencers.
Addressing the Rise of AI Digital Personas
The Guidelines also address the growing use of AI-powered digital personas in live streaming, recognizing the potential for misuse and consumer confusion. Thedocument mandates that:
- Clear Identification: AI-powered digital personas must be clearly identified as such, with continuous and prominent labeling to distinguish them from real individuals.
- No Deception: AI personas cannot be used to impersonate real individuals or to deceive consumers into believing they are interacting with a human.
*Transparency in Short Videos: Short videos used to drive traffic to live streams must be authentic and not rely on deceptive content or manipulated footage. - Prohibiting Unauthorized Use of Images and Voices: The Guidelines prohibit the use of AI-generated deepfakes to create short videos featuring individuals without their consent.
Promoting Trust and Transparency
The Guidelines emphasize the importance of building consumer trust and transparency in online live streaming marketing. They prohibit businesses from:
- Confusing Marketing with Genuine Content: Businesses cannot exploit consumers’ trust by disguising marketing messages as genuine product reviews, experiences, or knowledge sharing.
*Manipulating Data: Businesses are forbidden from manipulating data such as sales figures, appointments, views, likes, shares, and followers to mislead consumers about product popularity and demand. - Misleading User Reviews: Businesses cannot manipulate user reviews by prioritizing positive reviews or suppressing negative feedback.
The Zhejiang Provincial Market SupervisionBureau has stated that it will actively monitor and enforce these guidelines, taking appropriate measures against violators. This move reflects a growing awareness of the need for stricter regulation in the rapidly evolving online live streaming industry, ensuring a fair and transparent marketplace for both businesses and consumers.
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