"Double 11" e-commerce promotion starts again, experts remind legal risk prevention points

Editor's note

The annual "Double 11" e-commerce promotion has become an important window for observing the digital consumption ecology.

At present, e-commerce marketing models are iteratively upgraded, online consumption scenarios are becoming more diverse, and marketing methods are constantly being renovated. In order to prevent consumption traps and protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests, many organizations have issued consumption tips to guide consumers to consume scientifically and rationally and stay away from consumption risks.

At the same time, "consumption approval" mini-programs have quietly become popular and become a new phenomenon in the field of digital consumption, reflecting the current mentality of some consumers to restrain impulsive consumption and pursue rational consumption.

How can consumers penetrate the "fog" of marketing and identify various consumption routines? While "Consumption Approval" mini-programs put the brakes on impulsive consumption, what legal risks are hidden? The Rule of Law Jingwei Edition published two articles today, focusing respectively on the protection of rights and interests in consumption scenarios and the compliance issues of new consumer tools, providing consumers with consumer legal guidance and promoting the steady and long-term development of new consumption formats on the track of the rule of law. stay tuned.

The annual "Double 11" e-commerce promotion started as scheduled, and pre-sales and spot promotions on major platforms were intensively launched.

In order to prevent consumption traps and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, the China Consumers Association and local market regulatory authorities have recently issued special consumption tips, covering issues such as live streaming, AI marketing, credit payments, price promotions, etc. "Rule of Law Daily" reporters selected several typical questions in the consumer tips, interviewed legal experts in relevant fields, and deeply analyzed the legal issues behind them to help consumers "avoid pitfalls."

Share a "Good Things List"

If there is promotion, it is "hidden advertising"

The consumer tips jointly issued by the China Consumers Association, the China Society for Market Regulation, and the China Article Coding Center point out that consumers need to view third-party reviews rationally. Some review accounts lack scientific methods and experimental evidence, and their rhetoric is full of emotional guidance such as "must buy" and "whoever doesn't buy will regret it." In fact, it may be advertising in nature. Consumers should use the live broadcast display and evaluation conclusions as one of the references, not the only basis for decision-making. For health-related products such as food, health food, cosmetics, etc., they should also verify the qualifications, ingredients and production license information.

The reporter's investigation found that some bloggers will promote goods by publishing "lists of good things" and "product reviews". Many consumers share such content as shopping experiences, without realizing that there may be commercial partnerships behind it. In this regard, interviewed experts pointed out that bloggers use gifts and rebate incentives to guide consumers to complete transactions through directed jump links, and use the trust of fans to complete commercial conversions. This type of soft promotion is highly concealed, and it is difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish whether the content is an objective experience or an advertisement. After purchasing "recommended" products, if there are quality defects, some bloggers will shirk responsibility on the grounds of "only personal sharing", making it more difficult for consumers to protect their rights.

Lawyer Zhang Tao, a global partner of Beijing DeHeng Law Firm who has long been involved in the formulation of e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI) policies and laws, said in an interview with reporters that commercial promotion in the name of reviews, good product lists, and shopping guides is actually "hidden advertising." According to Article 14 of the Advertising Law, advertisements must be identifiable and enable consumers to identify them as advertisements. Article 9 of the "Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising" further stipulates that, except where laws and administrative regulations prohibit the release of advertisements or the release of advertisements in disguise, when promoting goods or services through knowledge introduction, experience sharing, consumption evaluation, etc., and attaching shopping links and other purchase methods, the advertisement publisher shall clearly indicate "advertisement". If the content publisher conceals the business partnership and does not mark the "advertising" logo, it violates the above legal provisions.

Zhang Tao further introduced that not marking "advertisement" will have multiple legal consequences. First, they may face administrative penalties, and the market supervision and management department will order them to make corrections and impose a fine of less than 100,000 yuan on the advertising publisher. Second, they may face civil compensation. If the review content beautifies the product, fabricates the user experience, and the promotional content is false or misleading, consumers can claim returns, refunds or even punitive damages in accordance with the Consumer Rights Protection Law.

"If a blogger collects commissions, attaches links and substantially participates in the release of advertisements, he is an advertising publisher; if a blogger uses his own name or image to recommend and certify goods and services in the content, he is an advertising spokesperson. If the publication of false advertisements causes damage to consumers, and the blogger knows or should know that the advertisement is false but still makes recommendations and certifications, he shall bear joint and several liability with the advertiser." Zhang Tao said.

Ren Chao, deputy dean and professor of the School of Economics and Law (School of International Finance and Law) of East China University of Political Science and Law, reminded in an interview that before placing an order, consumers should pay attention to whether reviews and other related content are marked with "advertising" or may have an interest relationship, and save review videos and purchase link screenshots. When rights and interests are damaged and need to be sued for rights protection, the merchants and bloggers can be listed as targets of complaints and lawsuits.

AI virtual person "brings goods"

Possibly suspected of false advertising

In recent years, AI digital human live broadcasts and AI synthesized images have become new marketing methods. However, some merchants use AI virtual humans to recommend products, and even use AI face-changing and synthesized voices to imitate public figures to promote products. In some content, the AI ​​logo is not eye-catching, and the virtual humans themselves cannot truly experience the products, but they use recommendation phrases such as "it is easy to use after personal testing". In addition, some merchants use AI to generate pictures on product introduction pages, resulting in serious discrepancies between the actual product and the promotion.

"AI virtual people do not have legal subject qualifications, and the legal responsibility for promoting goods belongs to the merchants behind them." Zhang Tao explained that AI virtual people cannot actually use the goods. If they use experiential words such as "personal test and effective" to make recommendations, it is essentially a fictitious use effect and is suspected of false advertising. Even if the page is marked "AI generated", it does not exempt the merchant from legal liability for false propaganda. The label "AI generated" only informs the technical source of the content and cannot change the objective fact that the promotional content is false.

Ren Chao analyzed that merchants use technical means to reproduce celebrities' portraits and voices to produce videos with goods for sale without permission. On the one hand, they infringe on the portrait rights and voice rights of natural persons. On the other hand, they fabricate celebrity endorsement effects, which constitutes false advertising and is a commercial promotion behavior expressly prohibited by law.

"Merchant should be the first responsible person and must be responsible for the authenticity of the promotional content; as an advertising operator, if the AI ​​content producer knows or should know that the advertisement is false but still designs and produces it, he should bear joint and several liability with the advertiser (i.e. the merchant); if the e-commerce platform knows or should know that the operators on the platform are using AI content to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and fails to take necessary measures, it shall bear joint and several liability in accordance with the law." Ren Chao said.

Experts interviewed suggested that consumers should use the text parameters on the product details page and physical evaluation as a reference; when encountering AI face-swapping false endorsements, AI-generated promotional images of products that are not on the market, etc., they should promptly save screenshots and screen recording evidence, and assert their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law.

In the payment process, reporters observed multiple platforms and found that some shopping platforms have embedded credit payment services such as "use first, pay later" and "platform monthly payment" into the settlement process; some platforms have also set up exclusive discounts for credit payments, using small red envelopes and instant benefits to guide consumers to choose credit payment.

Ren Chao believes that credit payment is essentially consumer credit, and opening credit involves processing sensitive personal information and requires individual consent. The default check-box mode, where credit is granted without explicit permission from consumers, is suspected of infringing on consumers' rights to know and make independent choices. It also violates the relevant provisions of the e-commerce law that tie-ins cannot be set as the default consent option.

"It is not illegal to simply provide credit payment discounts in itself, but the credit attributes cannot be deliberately weakened, and complex obstacles should not be set up to prevent users from closing services." Zhang Tao said.

Experts interviewed reminded consumers that they must carefully check payment options during the settlement process of major sales, rationally evaluate their repayment ability, and avoid excessive premature consumption; elderly consumers should try their best to complete the ordering operation with the help of family members. If you are "defaulted" to enable credit payment, you can first contact the platform to request to close the service and keep communication records; if negotiation fails, you can call the financial consumer rights protection consultation and complaint hotline 12363 to file a complaint and safeguard your rights.

Payment "Price Magic"

Check the rules carefully before placing an order

The price issue has been a frequent complaint issue during “Double 11” over the years. Data from the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that during the "Double 11" period in 2025, the national 12315 platform received 99,000 price complaints and reports, a month-on-month increase of 17.4%, and 22,000 price-related complaints and reports, a month-on-month increase of 3.3 times.

Recently, the Fujian Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee issued a "Double 11" consumption tip, which pointed out that during the big promotion period, there are relatively concentrated problems such as "first increase, then decrease, and then discount", vague pre-sale deposit rules, and exaggerated publicity in live broadcast rooms.

The consumer tips jointly issued by the China Consumers Association and others also pointed out that beware of "price magic" and do not judge discounts based on the page discount range. Some operators will increase the price of goods before promotion, and then create the illusion of price reduction in the name of "discount" or "direct reduction". The actual transaction price may not be lower than usual.

Ren Chao said that when a merchant declares the "lowest pre-sale price", the price promise will have a substantial impact on consumers paying deposits to place orders. If a merchant later sells the goods at a lower price and fails to fulfill the price commitment without justifiable reasons, it is in line with the price fraud situations listed in the "Regulations on Clearly Marked Prices and Prohibition of Price Fraud". The promise of price guarantee is an important part of the contract. If the merchant artificially creates differences in product links to prevent consumers from applying for price guarantee, it violates the principle of good faith.

"If a merchant circumvents price guarantees by changing product links, modifying product specifications, etc., it is an illegal act of deliberately avoiding price commitments and is suspected of fraud." Zhang Tao added.

The two experts suggested that before consumers participate in pre-sales and place orders, they must carefully read the deposit refund conditions and price guarantee starting time, and take screenshots of the "lowest price" and "lowest price of the year" promoted by merchants. If they find that merchants have changed links or modified specifications to evade price guarantees, they must keep evidence of comparing old and new product models and specifications, and file complaints with the platform first. They can also report through channels such as the national 12315 platform to recover the price difference in accordance with the law and safeguard their property rights.

Consumption tips

Combining high-frequency issues in the consumer field, Zhang Tao summarized the key points of legal risk prevention in six aspects from three aspects: before, during and after the event.

First, treat “planting” and “evaluation” rationally. For products without advertising logos, promoted in the form of "experience by amateurs" or "good things sharing" and with purchase links attached, the purchase decision must be made after multi-party verification through cross-information verification and other methods.

Second, recognize the “virtual” nature of AI marketing. AI digital humans do not represent real experiences or real endorsements. Do not blindly trust them and pay more attention to the AI ​​logo on the page.

Third, pay attention to the payment method when settling. You should check the payment method before placing an order. For credit products such as "monthly payment" and "use now, pay later", you need to pay attention to the interest rate, overdue liability and credit impact; do not accept the default check, and once it is activated by mistake, immediately turn off the service through the payment settings.

Fourth, before making a pre-sale decision, read the rules before paying the deposit.

Fifth, pay attention to retaining corresponding evidence for major and important transactions. Promotional pages, orders, chat records, screen recordings and payment vouchers are stored in categories. If the merchant changes links or modifies specifications, the identity of the old and new products should be compared in a timely manner.

Sixth, safeguard rights in a timely manner. When problems such as damage to legitimate rights and interests arise, they can be resolved through platform complaints, consultations, complaints to the corresponding regulatory authorities or industry organizations, etc.

Reporter Sun Tianjiao