Regulation on fraud in livestream shopping should be made - report states

While many Chinese people are enjoying shopping through livestreaming, efforts to prevent them from being cheated in relevant purchases should also be strengthened, a report said.

As more businesses have been transferred to livestreaming platforms after seeing the industrial fast development, some were found to have sought more profits by using improper or even illegal means to cheat consumers, according to the Chinese Law Enforcement Report.

The report, which was jointly made by the China Behavior Law Association and the Central South University in Hunan province, was issued on Sunday.

Some livestreamers, for example, were discovered to have enticed consumers to buy their goods by hiring trolls to post good comments on the products or faking advertisements, the report said, adding "the behaviors had disturbed the trust in business"

"Therefore, it's urgent to provide stronger law education for livestreaming hosts to help them enhance legal awareness, and to ask internet platforms to intensify the management and information review of livestreamers," Wang Chunhui, deputy head of the association's academic committee, suggested.

Meanwhile, he also called for third-party institutes to offer aids in identifying the authenticity of goods information, to ensure consumers will not be misled by false advertising.

In addition, formulating or revising laws to strengthen the regulation of the industry, such as increasing punishment for those who cheat consumers, is a necessity, he said, adding "It'll be conducive to maintaining the market order and ensuring fair competition."

Furthermore, internet operators also need to tighten self-supervision, with penalties to users if finding them disobeying the rules of the platforms, he said.

Recalling legal practices in digital fields last year, he pointed out in the report that the protection of personal data and the fight against online fraud should be continuously intensified, as new problems have been emerging in the areas.

For instance, he suggested greater effort be made in combating scams by using technologies such as deepfake or artificial intelligence to swap facial information, with stronger international cooperation in fighting transnational fraud.