The "diet therapy weight loss method" claims that you can "slim down" even if you eat meat every day, and hypes anti-diabetic drugs as "magic pills for weight loss"
Behind the weight loss blogger’s “experience posts” is the “business experience”
□ Ding Yi, trainee reporter of this newspaper
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
"Why do you still have a small belly when you are obviously not fat? There may be a red light on somewhere in your body! You are physically and mentally exhausted, unable to wake up, and depressed. You need to protect your liver."
"Real personal targeted assessment, losing 10 pounds of weight in a month, isn't this intuitive?"
"The super tough weight loss method in winter will help you lose 30 pounds easily in a month!"
…
Nowadays, on major social platforms, videos and posts of various weight loss tutorials are emerging one after another, and some people have even become dedicated weight loss bloggers. A recent investigation by a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" found that in addition to weight loss methods such as fitness and dieting, many weight loss bloggers advocate "diet therapy weight loss methods" such as "eating, drinking, and drinking as a lifestyle-based fat loss method" and "following the diet to lose weight."
Such posts often have similar plots: after the blogger eats the relevant product, he or she loses weight the next day even if he eats a lot of food. Bloggers not only directly endorse the recommended products through text, pictures, videos, etc., saying that they "have weight loss effects" and "can also remove freckles and beautify the skin," but they also place product purchase links in the comment area of the post. In this regard, some netizens ridiculed: The blogger is promoting the product in the name of recording the weight loss process.
In the opinion of the interviewed experts, weight loss bloggers use social platforms as the basis, use their own weight loss experiences, experiences, sharing of good things, etc. as content, and realize traffic monetization by embedding weight loss drug advertisements and shopping links. This is a commercial advertisement and should be clearly marked with "advertising" ". At the same time, videos that use absolute terms and make assertions or guarantees about efficacy and safety to promote weight loss products are false advertisements. If the platform provides publicity and promotion services to weight loss bloggers and it constitutes commercial advertising, the platform needs to bear the responsibility of the advertising publisher or operator.
“Crack down on fakes” posts are actually traffic diversion
Various words to promote products
Ms. Wang from Haidian, Beijing, experienced a failed weight loss attempt at the end of last year. She chose the "lifestyle fat loss method" after reading hundreds of relevant weight loss posts. Not only did she not lose weight, she actually gained a lot of weight.
Ms. Wang told reporters that in order to lose weight before becoming a bridesmaid for a friend, she followed more than ten weight loss bloggers. "I'm afraid of starving and don't want to go on a diet to lose weight. After watching hundreds of videos, what interests me most is the 'lifestyle fat loss method' recommended by some bloggers: taking a weight loss product can integrate fat loss into your life. middle."
Now recalling how she watched many similar weight-loss videos and believed in the recommendations of weight-loss bloggers before finally placing an order without hesitation, she used the words: "I was brainwashed."
"There are many bloggers who recommend this product. They eat every meal in the video introduction, including hot pot, barbecue, fried skewers, barbecue and other 'hard dishes'. They say that you can lose weight if you eat whatever you want. And the comment section is always good. There were hundreds of comments that affirmed the blogger and the products he recommended. Some netizens said, 'I have lost 10 pounds and it is very effective.' I clicked on the link below the video and jumped to the sales page, and found that the sales volume was also very high." Ms. Wang said that this product is claimed to be "unisex" and "healthy and non-irritating". Taking two packs at a time, three times a day, can "increase metabolism, accelerate fat burning" and achieve "slimming down".
She bought a 4-month supply at a time, followed the instructions of weight loss bloggers, and drank 6 packs of slimming drinks every day in addition to her normal diet. As a result, she did not lose weight, but gained a few pounds. In response to this, the customer service's reply was "It may be due to individual differences. We are just food and cannot guarantee that you can lose weight."
"The reason why I placed an order is because more than one blogger said in a 'review' that the product has a weight-loss effect. If the video says it may not necessarily help lose weight, I will definitely not buy it." Ms. Wang said angrily, "This is not Are you sharing experiences on the surface, but actually promoting products?”
In addition, when reporters searched for keywords such as "weight loss" on major platforms, they found that there were many posts that used the gimmick of testing and cracking down on counterfeit weight loss products to attract traffic. However, when they clicked on the videos and posts, they discovered that they were recommending weight loss pills and weight loss capsules. , slimming tea, etc.
For example, the title of a post is "Can it really help you lose weight? Stop joking." However, after clicking on the video, the first comment pinned by the blogger is "Only those who have actually tried it will know how useful it is! I put the product link here." In the video, the blogger said, "I have taken other weight-loss drugs but they have no effect. Obesity affects my social life, which makes me very sad." Therefore, he is testing a new product. "If it works, record it. If it doesn't, use this video to defend your rights." This video has 140,000 likes.
In the video, the blogger stated that his initial weight was 145 pounds. After taking the slimming capsules, he ate normally, even eating spicy hotpot, fried skewers, burgers and other foods. After eating one after another of "high-calorie foods are really delicious", "I must eat burgers a week" and "making skewers so happy", she said she lost 8 pounds and reduced her waistline by 5 centimeters in 20 days. .
At the end of the video, the blogger said, "My skin has become much better" and "I can lose weight 24 hours a day, even lying down." So, "I asked customer service for a link with a big discount and put it in the comment area. Everyone, please hurry up." Take two bottles and check in together."
The reporter noticed that the video was not marked with an "advertising" mark, and many netizens in the barrage said they had "watched this brand's videos many times." During the investigation, the reporter also found that many weight loss bloggers were recommending this weight loss product, and the video content was similar.
After searching the product name, the reporter found that many netizens complained: "After buying it, it has no effect at all. I wanted to go to the product link to leave a negative review, but found that the original link already said 'expired product does not exist'."
For another example, a blogger with 150,000 fans on a certain platform recommended another weight loss product in the name of “exposing the weight loss scam.” The blogger complained about the link in the comment area of others, but after testing the product, The blogger said, "It is indeed effective. The link at the top of the comment area has prepared exclusive benefits for everyone." The video has more than 50 million views.
On a certain shopping platform, this product is described as "a finished dietary prescription under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory. According to legal regulations, it is an ordinary food. This product cannot replace health foods or drugs to treat diseases." The reporter asked the merchant's customer service "Can I lose weight?" Customer service said, "This product is not a scale-off drug and has no immediate effect. Everyone's body constitution and absorption are different, and there are objective differences in effects. Those with high short-term expectations should be careful when taking this product."
At the same time, there are many comments in the comment area of this product: "It's a proper IQ tax, and you won't feel good after eating one box. Whoever buys it will be fooled, it's shameful to read reviews", "I tried it for nearly 10 days, and it turned out to be useless. Friends, buy with caution" etc. message.
Prescription drugs become "weight loss pills"
It is illegal to mislead the public
In the weight loss experience posts all over social platforms, it is not uncommon for bloggers to share their experiences on the surface, but in fact secretly promote products. The content of these posts is extremely homogenous. The bloggers all use the excuse of "sharing experiences", "sharing good things" or "evaluating". After taking a certain product, they do not need to exercise, eat and drink normally or even eat haphazardly, and then weigh themselves and still lose weight. A few pounds. Some bloggers even bluntly said, "If you discover this thing earlier, you don't have to work hard to lose weight" and "I recommend everyone who doesn't want to move but still loves to eat to try it." In the comment area, bloggers invariably posted purchase links for the recommended products. After clicking on some links, they directly displayed "Same model as ×× (name of blogger)" and "Recommended by ×× (name of blogger)".
What’s more, some weight-loss bloggers directly encourage the use of medication to lose weight in their posts, promoting prescription drugs as “miraculous weight-loss drugs.” For example, there is a post saying that many medical workers are trying to lose weight through a certain anti-diabetic drug. Some posts directly recommended "detailed explanation of how to use semaglutide injection" and "the whole process of self-administering semaglutide". In the video, the blogger inserted the needle into his belly and said that "the pain is similar to a mosquito bite."
The reporter consulted the chief physician of the internal medicine department of a tertiary hospital in Beijing and learned that semaglutide is a hypoglycemic prescription drug for diabetics. The approved indication for use in my country is type 2 diabetes, not weight loss. "Long-term use of semaglutide may lower blood sugar in normal people, leading to hypoglycemia, and may even have a certain impact on women's menstruation and fertility."
Many experts interviewed believe that recommendations posted by weight loss bloggers constitute advertising.
Dong Yuanyuan, a senior partner at Beijing Tianchi Juntai Law Firm, believes that the behavior of weight loss bloggers placing weight loss products at the top of the comment area and redirecting links can be considered advertising behavior. According to the provisions of Article 8 of the "Internet Advertising Management Measures", it is prohibited to publish health food advertisements in disguised forms such as introducing health and health knowledge; when introducing health and health knowledge, shopping links for related health foods, etc. shall not appear on the same page or at the same time. content. Therefore, the above behavior is likely to be illegal advertising behavior.
“Some weight loss bloggers use social platforms as the basis, use their own weight loss experiences, experiences, sharing of good things, etc. as content, and realize traffic monetization by embedding weight loss drug advertisements and e-commerce links. Some even package weight loss product advertisements as Forms such as consumer reviews and popular science that claim to be objective and neutral, without labeling advertisements, lure consumers to watch, and appear to be neutral but are actually commercial marketing, which is highly misleading." Yao Jinju, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University School of Law, said that some weight loss blogs Anyone who promotes weight-loss drugs in short videos by using absolute terms or making assertions or guarantees about efficacy or safety is considered false advertising under the Advertising Law and should be subject to administrative penalties from the market supervision and management department.
Yao Jinju told reporters that if the "diet therapy weight loss" promotion involves food sales, it should be clearly marked as "advertising" and strictly follow laws and regulations such as the Food Safety Law. If the legitimate rights and interests of consumers are harmed due to false advertising or other false publicity when recommending food to consumers, they shall bear joint and several liability with the food producers and operators. If it does not involve food sales and is published only to attract traffic without scientific verification, the content should not mislead the public or violate public order and good customs, or disrupt social order.
In Yao Jinju’s view, some weight loss posts even recommend prescription drugs as “weight loss pills”, which is obviously misleading to the public. According to relevant laws and regulations, prescription drugs can only be advertised in medical and pharmaceutical professional publications jointly designated by the health administration department of the State Council and the drug regulatory department of the State Council, and the advertising content must not be inconsistent with the instructions approved by the drug regulatory department of the State Council, and should be clearly marked. Contraindications and adverse reactions.
"Even if there is no sales involved, and the purpose is to publish promotional content that has not been scientifically verified to attract traffic, the posts should not mislead the public or violate public order and good customs, or disrupt social order." Yao Jinju said.
Weight loss “recommendations” create chaos
Platforms must strengthen supervision
So, what responsibilities may the weight loss bloggers who published the above-mentioned allegedly illegal advertisements bear?
"Short videos with purchase links for weight loss products should be clearly marked with 'advertisement' and must not mislead consumers. If not, the video bloggers will bear legal responsibility in accordance with the relevant provisions of the advertising law." Yao Jinju said, in addition, if the advertisement If the title deliberately exaggerates or fabricates facts to attract clicks, but in fact the content is seriously inconsistent with the title, or the title deliberately sets up suspense and misleads consumers, it may violate the advertising law and the "Internet Advertising Management Measures", advertisers and advertising operators , advertising publishers will be subject to administrative penalties.
Dong Yuanyuan introduced that if the blogger's behavior causes damage to the individual's rights to life, body, health, etc., and there is a causal relationship between the behavior and the consequences of the damage, and the blogger has subjective fault, then he needs to bear tort liability. What's more, if the blogger's behavior causes personal injury or death and meets the elements of a crime, he may be suspected of a criminal offence.
The reporter noticed that in most of the posts by weight loss bloggers about eating certain products to lose weight, almost all of them had the text "Ordinary food cannot replace health products and medicines" underneath the video.
The experts interviewed agreed that this approach does not exempt weight loss bloggers from liability.
"According to the Implementation Regulations of the Food Safety Law, foods other than health foods are not allowed to claim to have health functions. Ordinary food advertisements cannot promote weight loss, and falling off the scale is also a description of weight loss. Although there is a prompt below the video, it is not done in the video content Illegal advertising does not affect its illegality," said Yao Zhiwei, a professor at the Law School of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics.
Dong Yuanyuan told reporters that the "List of Substances that May Be Illegally Added to Health Foods (First Batch)" issued by the former State Food and Drug Administration included "products claiming to have weight loss functions" into the ranks of health care functions. Therefore, if the food claims to be able to lose weight, it should usually be classified as a health food, and it should obtain the "Blue Hat" mark and other corresponding registration filings, otherwise it is illegal. "If it is an ordinary product, it should not claim that it has health care functions or weight loss functions, otherwise it will constitute false propaganda. If it is claimed that a certain product has weight loss functions or is a weight loss drug, but it is also claimed that 'ordinary food cannot replace health care products and medicines' then It may be unapproved health food or counterfeit medicine, and the product itself may be illegal. In any case, the above words of weight loss bloggers cannot be exempted from liability."
According to the experts interviewed, regulating the chaos of weight loss “recommendations” requires the joint efforts of all relevant parties.
"Internet platforms should strictly review the videos, blog posts and live broadcast rooms uploaded by users to see whether there are illegal products, false advertising and other behaviors, remove the corresponding products from the shelves and ban the corresponding entities in accordance with the platform rules," Dong Yuanyuan said.
Yao Jinju reminded that if the platform provides publicity and promotion services to weight loss bloggers and constitutes commercial advertising, the platform will need to bear the responsibility of the advertising publisher or advertising operator.
"Platforms, as direct supervisors and managers of content, should actively fulfill their legal and social obligations, make efforts in research and development of supervision technology, cultivate supervision talents, improve platform governance rules, etc., and strengthen the management of online marketing information content." Yao Jinju said, The platform should also establish and improve a complaint and reporting mechanism, clarify the handling process and feedback period, and handle public complaints and reports on illegal information content and marketing behaviors in a timely manner.
(Legal Daily)