Legal Issues Related To Cosmetic Reviews

In recent years, reviews (reviews, comments) of cosmetics are gradually becoming more popular in the era of technological development. Some social media influencers (KOLs) are gradually becoming Reviewers to give personal opinions about the quality of cosmetics to viewers. However, comments, whether positive or negative, can affect the revenue and reputation of brands. To clarify the extent of influence as well as related legal responsibilities, Capable Counsel gives readers a more specific perspective in the article below.

Legal basis:

• Law on Protection of Consumer Rights No. 59/2010/QH12 promulgated by the National Assembly on November 17, 2010 (“Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2010“)
• Civil Code No. 91/2015/QH13 promulgated by the National Assembly on November 24, 2015 (“Civil Code 2015“)
• Decree No. 14/2022/ND-CP issued by the Government on January 27, 2022 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP and Decree No. 119/2020/ND-CP (“Decree 14/2022/ND-CP”)
• Criminal Code No. 100/2015/QH13 (amended and supplemented in 2017) promulgated by the National Assembly on November 27, 2015 (“Criminal Code 2015“)

1. Purpose of the review

Review is a form of product or service evaluation, stating a personal view of the product/service experience – the person performing the review will experience the product/service and make evaluations based on a personal perspective. The purpose of review activities is to provide information about products and services to many people.

2. Right to review products

From a legal point of view, the person who performs the review is also the consumer. According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 3 of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2010, a consumer is a person who buys and uses goods and services for the purpose of consumption and daily life of individuals, families and organizations. According to the provisions of Article 8 of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2010, consumers are guaranteed the safety of life, health, other legitimate rights and interests when participating in transactions and use of goods provided by organizations and individuals trading in goods. When there is a problem with the product/service that they are using, consumers can “Give opinions to organizations and individuals trading in goods and services about the price, quality of goods, services, service styles, transaction methods and other contents related to transactions between consumers and organizations,  individuals trading in goods and services” or “Complaints, denunciations, initiating lawsuits or requesting social organizations to initiate lawsuits to protect their interests in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant provisions of law”.

Consumers can also give their personal views on the product/service. Currently, there is no law prohibiting the act of reviewing products or sharing one’s own experiences when using a certain product or service – because expressing one’s own opinion is also recognized by law as a citizen’s right to freedom of expression recognized by the Constitution. However, caution should still be exercised in giving personal opinions as this assessment is based on personal experience but may affect the reputation, honor, revenue, etc. of the manufacturer, supplier and/or business organization.

3. Possible liabilities if the review is false

• Initiated a civil lawsuit and must compensate for damage to the affected organization/individual, if any.

Accordingly, in Articles 34 and 592 of the Civil Code 2015, organizations/individuals whose reputation is affected by unofficial or untrue information have the following rights:

+ Request the Court to reject information that adversely affects their honor, dignity and reputation.

+ Information adversely affecting the honor, dignity and prestige of individuals/organizations published on any mass media must be removed or corrected by the mass media itself. If this information is stored by agencies, organizations or individuals, it must be destroyed.

+ Individuals/organizations that are adversely affected by information that adversely affects their honor, dignity and reputation, in addition to the right to request the rejection of such information, also have the right to request the person providing the information to publicly apologize or correct

+ Claim for compensation for damages incurred, if any.

• Sanctioned for administrative violations

According to Clause 1, Article 37 of Decree 14/2022/ND-CP, the act of providing false information can be sanctioned for administrative violations such as fines, removal, and forced public correction.

• Being subject to civil lawsuits or being examined for criminal liability

False reviewers may be subject to civil lawsuits or may be prosecuted for criminal liability under Article 156 of the Penal Code for slander, or Article 331 of the Penal Code for the crime of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State.  legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.

4. General principles to ensure safety when reviewing products:

If you stand from the perspective of a reviewer when you give a bad review of a product that the article/video has a high level of popularity, it can lead to the consequences of being sued by that brand because it can cause a decrease in sales, reduce income or affect the reputation of that brand (whether the reviewer is right or wrong).

When starting to review a certain product, we need to pay attention to the following issues:

–       Provide complete product information: origin, ingredients, uses, whether the product is registered, etc. Who is this product suitable for and who is it not suitable for. List out a short list of the advantages and disadvantages of the product, accompanied by actual images

–        Check information before making judgments and evaluations, avoiding misleading information: The information that the reviewer gives in the video needs to be accurate, honest and not misleading to viewers. In case the reviewer misleads viewers about the use and quality of the product, it can lead to monetary damage to the brand or those associated with that brand. From there, the brand/manufacturer and individuals and organizations associated with the trademark can claim monetary compensation for any damages caused by the reviewer’s claims.

–        Avoid/limit negative product claims: Negative product claims can face a number of legal issues such as: lawsuits between brands and reviewers or between KOLs (influencers) associated with brands and reviewers and being accused of damaging the brand’s reputation

–        Transparency: In case the review receives compensation or any costs from the brand/manufacturer/supplier, it should be disclosed in the video. Transparency will create credibility for the channel and avoid biased opinions towards brands/manufacturers/suppliers.

–       Copyright: images, music, or content used in the video need to be guaranteed to be original or allowed to be used with the copyright owner. Brands/manufacturers/suppliers can rely on the above factors to “flag” a video with TikTok, causing the video to be removed from the platform.

–        Health and safety claims of the product: when making these claims on the video, it is necessary to provide scientific evidence of the above claim. For reviews, reviewers must not only rely on previous reviews of other reviewers, but must research and evaluate the ingredient list as well as the percentage of those ingredients that cause images What benefits to users or not? Give a specific list of ingredients, refer to the indicators of cosmetic experts or specialized doctors about the ingredients, indicators, and how the content of that ingredient affects when used. If you can give as much concrete evidence as possible, such as giving a message about the answer or an audio or video recording of the answer to that problem, whether the ingredient test sheet is exactly as described by the product.

–        There must be a product testing team: because the suitability of the product for consumers will depend on the location of each person. In addition, if this product adversely affects most of the participants in the experience, it is necessary to have concrete and clear evidence. Once there are bad phenomena on the body (lips) such as dark lips or acne on the lips, the condition of the facial skin deteriorates, it is necessary to go to medical examination and treatment places to find out the specific cause, if it is caused by the use of lipstick or cosmetics, it is necessary to provide test evidence,  The evaluation of the examining doctor about this irritation problem.

–        In addition, it is necessary to give 3rd party opinions: not only consult with doctors, cosmetic experts, the reviewers themselves and the product testing team, but also other consumers. Can be searched and referenced on websites, Facebook groups, forums, groups,… Find out if there are many people who buy the same product and have the same problem as you. If yes, they will contact and refer to their use history, testimonials of purchase, use, before and after using the product. That is the most objective view.

–        To be safer, you can find out other products of that brand that you feel are effective (if any). Because that will make the brand/manufacturer feel that the review side is objective and fair, besides the bad reviews, they also find out which products are quality, safe, and usable. For example, in case the brand/manufacturer contacts me about the reviewer’s unhigh reviews of the product, affecting the revenue of the brand/manufacturer, I can explain that the reviews are based on the tests of some Vietnamese consumers. In addition, the reviewer’s side is not a bad review of all products, but there are also suggestions about other products “with praise and criticism”, so the reduction in revenue on that side is not related to their reviews, etc

–        In addition, reviewers should also pay attention to the policies of the social platforms they participate in (Facebook, Youtube, Tiktok, etc.) on how to include product review information. For example, Tiktok has a policy against defamatory statements stated in TikTok’s Community Policy: “Tiktok strictly prohibits content that discredits, harasses, threatens, or hates an individual or a group,….”. Accordingly, the content in the reviewer’s video may be asked by the brand/producer to flag or delete the video or restrict the viewer of that video, affecting/discrediting the reviewer.

Conclusion: Based on specific reactions, along with the content in the video review, the manufacturer/brand/supplier can make specific conclusions and behaviors to protect their rights. As mentioned above, they can first report to social platforms to flag, restrict viewers, or over-invalidate the video; asking reviewers to apologize and correct; lawsuits and claims for damages; or request criminal prosecution; etc.