Full ban on "wild" can not omit online transactions

Recently, the General Administration of Market Supervision has released a batch of typical cases of illegal wildlife trading. This is also the ninth batch of typical cases of "Joint Doubles Action" announced by the General Administration of Market Supervision since the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. Among them, the General Administration of Market Supervision notified a case of selling wild animals by short video.

The illegal wildlife trading on the Internet has a long history. As early as 2016, some research institutions disclosed that nearly half of the illegal wildlife transactions were conducted through the Internet, and some even disguised as "cute pet" sales. Due to the convenience and concealment of online transactions, the related governance is beyond defense.

After the outbreak, the National People's Congress passed a decision to ban wild animals in a comprehensive manner and demanded that the illegal wildlife trade be severely cracked down. Even under such circumstances, we still cannot underestimate the "toughness" of illegal wildlife transactions, and we must pay more attention to illegal transactions online. The press conference of the Joint Defense and Joint Control Mechanism of the State Council disclosed that during the epidemic, major national e-commerce platforms screened or removed more than 750,000 pieces of wildlife trading information, and closed 17,000 online stores or accounts. At the same time, the General Administration of Market Supervision also found 33,000 pieces of wild animal transaction information on the e-commerce platform through the national network transaction monitoring platform, and promptly urged the e-commerce platform to make corrections.

These data tell us that in the era of the Internet to combat illegal wildlife transactions, only a "game of chess" online and offline can minimize governance loopholes. With China's comprehensive "no-wildness", the scope of governance of illegal wildlife transactions has become larger, which also puts forward higher requirements on the governance technology and strength of relevant departments. At the same time, the “technology” of illegal transactions has also evolved, and if the governance is relaxed, it is likely to fall into a passive state. The case of short-term video sales of wild animals exposed by the General Administration of Market Supervision should prompt our vigilance. Relevant departments also need to be careful to prevent similar channels from becoming blind spots for governance.

The urgent task at this moment is to further clarify the responsibility boundaries of various network platforms in the investigation and elimination of illegal wildlife transactions, and to enhance their enthusiasm for governance. On the one hand, the network platform has its own technical advantages, and it is more efficient in the shielding and investigation of relevant information; on the other hand, regulatory authorities at all levels should also establish a normalized information exchange and collaborative governance mechanism with the network platform. Weaving a dense governance network together.

However, in the current transitional phase of a comprehensive ban on "wildness", the relevant departments should also do the corresponding supporting work, taking into account the rights and interests of farmers affected by the new regulations. Prior to this, the Legal Work Committee of the National People ’s Congress made it clear that the introduction of a comprehensive ban on “wildness” may cause some economic losses to some farmers who raise animals. Change production and business activities, and give some compensation according to the actual situation. The start of a comprehensive ban on "wildness" may have affected some fully qualified farmers in the past, and even caused an embarrassing situation of "legitimately becoming illegal". Corresponding supporting arrangements to reduce the losses of these people are not only the responsibility of the government, but also help reduce the risk of turning them into illegal transactions.

In short, in the Internet era, the governance of illegal transactions of wild animals must not be limited to the traditional model, nor can it focus on "offline". Online and offline also need to form an efficient and coordinated governance pattern. Where do illegal transactions really happen? Where there is an extension of governance antennae.

Zhu Changjun Source: China Youth Daily