Economics, everyone | Multi-pronged approach to improve consumer rights protection in the digital age
Author: Nankai University Law School professor, Ph.D., Center for Competition Law and Policy Research Executive Director Renchen Bing
At present, consumption is undoubtedly the leader in the "troika" of economic growth and the source of stimulus for production and increased investment.
Expanding domestic demand and promoting consumption is not only an important means to promote the current domestic economic cycle, but also a key link in the continuous promotion of economic transformation and upgrading.
If you want to give full play to the positive role of consumption in promoting economic growth, the first task is to improve the protection of consumer rights, establish a virtuous cycle of consumption order, and drive the growth of domestic consumption.
The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly included "strengthening consumer rights protection" into the "14th Five-Year Plan", which embodies the important value and practical significance of strengthening and improving consumer rights protection for economic and social development.
The rapid development of the digital economy has brought about changes in market operations and consumption structure, and put forward higher requirements for consumer rights protection. The current consumer rights protection system urgently needs to be upgraded.
Facing the challenges brought about by the rapid development of digital economy and digital technology, promote the concept of consumer protection from inclined protection to balanced protection, from excessive reliance on government exercise protection to joint construction and co-governance by multiple social entities, and strengthen the existing consumer protection mechanisms. Implementation of validity, from one-way separation to multi-pronged approach, is a realistic and feasible measure to effectively respond to the many challenges faced by consumer protection in the digital age.
First, build a balanced system that protects the rights and interests of consumers and operators.
In the context of the digital economy, consumers are deeply involved in the production and operation process, gradually getting rid of their disadvantaged positions, and increasingly becoming the dominant force in market development.
The "new consumption" model represented by social and sharing models is rapidly emerging, from physical consumption to the development of both physical and service consumption, which can meet consumer demand at a higher level and promote the improvement of consumer quality.
To this end, it is necessary to correct the "consolidated thinking that consumers are in a disadvantaged position", and on the basis of re-examining the role of consumers in the market, construct a balanced system that protects the legitimate rights and interests of both consumers and operators.
It is recommended to start from the dimensions of the community of interests of consumers and operators and a community of destiny, grasp the "degree" and "power" of the balanced protection of the two, and promote the benign interaction between consumers and operators.
Second, fully mobilize and inspire multiple social subjects to jointly build and govern together.
Entering the digital age, the consciousness and autonomy of various subjects in society have been further demonstrated, and a new consumer pattern of individualization, diversification and diversification has been formed and developed rapidly.
Consumer protection cannot only rely on the government's exercise of power, but must also fully mobilize and stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and autonomy of various social actors outside the government.
First of all, the consciousness and autonomy of consumers and groups should be stimulated.
Consumers are the terminal of any round of production, distribution, circulation and consumption and the beginning of a new round. This is particularly evident in the digital economy. Production and consumption have been closely integrated, and consumers are protected by their rights and interests. Naturally present and active implementers.
In the upgrading of the consumer rights protection model, consumers should be fully mobilized and motivated to maintain their own rights and interests, and consumers and groups should be able to play and release their role in the construction and supervision of the legitimate and legal operating order of the market.
Second, the functions of industry organizations and/or associations should be clarified.
Industry organizations and/or associations, as quasi-public institutions and/or autonomous organizations, play an important role in coordinating the interests of different enterprises, acting as a mediator of government-enterprise relations, and leading industry autonomy in market construction and development.
Market compliance governance is inseparable from the participation and coordination of industry organizations and/or associations, especially in the protection of consumer rights in the digital economy, encourage and support industry organizations and/or associations to formulate scientifically and legally based on the characteristics of industry development The realization of the functions of the industry’s quality standards, business codes of conduct, and dispute mediation guidelines, etc., as internal normative documents with self-discipline and autonomy, will help promote the cracking of consumer rights protection problems and soften the passive performance of protection obligations and The fear of hardship to assume corresponding responsibilities can also better protect the legitimate rights and interests of operators and groups.
Third, guide and encourage operators to conduct self-compliance review and improve their awareness and ability of self-discipline and autonomy.
As the provider of goods and services, the operator is the first person responsible for the protection of consumers' rights and interests.
Therefore, operators should be urged and supported to strengthen their own compliance operations to avoid infringement of consumer rights and interests from the source. At the same time, operators should be encouraged and assisted to protect their rights and interests through due process and legal means to maximize the benefits of operating behaviors. To enrich and improve the connotation and form of compliance management for operators.
Third, build a multi-dimensional and systematic consumer rights protection model.
In the digital age, the consumer structure and consumer behavior have undergone tremendous changes, and the specific methods and methods of consumer rights protection also need to be improved and innovated.
The first is to scientifically and rationally optimize prior supervision.
It is recommended to move the chain of supervision forward, adopt scientific and prudent pre-supervision, promptly respond to problems found, take precautions against the clustering and proliferation risks that are prone to occur in online consumption, and build a "pre-event + after-event" full cycle of market supervision And consumer rights protection model.
The second is to establish a three-dimensional, multi-sectoral, and comprehensive consumer rights protection mechanism.
It is recommended to start from the fundamentals of market economy operation and the construction and maintenance of the main order, introduce diversified governance norms and adjustment tools, and take into account multiple interests.
The third is to accelerate the construction of guidance and incentive mechanisms.
A consumer credit mechanism can be established, through the legal collection and orderly sharing of market credit and social credit data of operators and consumers, with the help of big data analysis and scenario-based algorithms, credit ratings of operators and consumers, design and introduction of trustworthiness The reward and punishment system for dishonesty guides and encourages operators and consumers to consciously abide by the law and exercise power legally.
The fourth is to strengthen the protection of consumer data rights.
In the digital economy, data and its related rights and interests have become new content and new forms of consumer rights. Therefore, the existing protection mechanism should be expanded in a timely manner, and regulations related to data rights protection should be added to clarify the subject, content and content of data rights. Regulations on related behaviors, amendments to a single static private rights protection model, and construction of a dynamic ownership system, which promotes the orderly flow of data elements, fully excavates and releases the value of data, and realizes the security and development of consumer data rights .
Consumer rights protection must closely follow the pulse of the times, proceed from the reality of social development, advance with the times, and innovate continuously.
The digital age has given birth to a market economy operating mode and the emergence of many "three new" economies, and the objective environment for consumer rights protection has undergone major and even subversive changes.
The concepts, systems, and methods of consumer rights protection should also change and follow the trend.
Promote the shift in the concept of consumer rights protection, introduce a multi-dimensional and systematic protection mechanism, and promote consumers through co-construction, co-governance and sharing under the background of the exponential growth of the digital economy and the continuous improvement of the autonomy of multiple social subjects The upgrade of the rights protection system promotes the stable development of the economy and society in the digital age, and provides a scientific, reasonable and predictable consumer protection legal system and implementation plan.