Company fined for cross-border advertising violation

The Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information at the Ministry of Information and Communications issued a decision on Friday to penalize WPP Media Limited, said the ministry in a statement on its portal Saturday.

WPP had placed an advertisement for Redoxon, a pharmaceutical brand by Bayer Vietnam, on a YouTube channel that carried illegal content, according to the broadcasting authority.

The company also failed to follow regulations requiring it to report its provision of advertisement services on cross-border platforms in Vietnam in 2022, according to the statement.

The ministry said online advertisements could be attached to toxic anti-state content on cross-border platforms. They are a trap that could affect the prestige of advertising businesses.

The broadcasting authority thus has beefed up surveillance to maintain a healthy advertisement environment, according to the statement.

The ministry said it has also published a blacklist of pages with toxic content, and a white list of verified pages, both of which are available on the broadcasting authority’s website.