This is a difficult work, but initial achievements have been gained, according to the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI).

ABEI director Le Quang Tu Do said the agency in 2023 imposed fines on many ad agents and brands to make them understand that if they still placed ads on channels with toxic content, they would be the first to suffer.

The online ad market has been cleaned up, thanks to recent measures. The strong development of online ads has opened up opportunities to many parties, including toxic channels and ugly news webs. Many dirty ads are placed on dirty content just to draw views and likes, which infringe on copyrights and break the law.

In general, ad agents and brands seek KPI (key performance indicator), trying to obtain a high number of views. Many of them place ads on dirty content on foreign platforms in order to catch the attention of people and boost sales. As a result, cash flow has been created to provide to parties specializing in producing ugly content.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese mass media and press agencies have to observe strict regulations on ad placement. This explains why fees for ads placed on domestic mass media channels are higher than foreign ones. This leads to unhealthy competition between domestic and foreign businesses.

At the same time, ABEI encouraged expanding the White List, or the list of channels recommended by ABEI for placing ads.

MIC has requested businesses to consider cooperating with the units on the White List to protect their brands, and help develop a safe and healthy ad ecosystem and digital content.

Do said the re-orientation of the advertising cash flow became clearer in late 2023, after ad agents and brands were fined. Cross-border platforms also began applying measures to prevent toxic content under the pressure of the watchdog agency.

“The gap between domestic and foreign advertising cash flow has been narrowed. The cash flow to domestic channels has increased,” Do said.

He said that expanding the White List is a solution to struggle with toxic channels.

“If the White List is small, advertisers and brands won’t have enough channels to place ads,” he explained.

“We will call on channels to produce clean and legal content and register with MIC via electronic information portals or MCN (multi-channel networks)."

Trong Dat