Recently, tutorabc, an online English education institution, received a fine of RMB 654.38+10,000 from Beijing Chaoyang District Market Supervision Administration for advertising that "foreign teachers all over the world are here" and "2 1 day remembers 3,000 words". At the same time, it also received a fine of 654.38+10,000 yuan from Hi Learning Network exposed by CCTV's "3 15 party".
The advertising law makes specific provisions on the content and punishment of false advertisements, and at the same time makes special provisions on educational and training advertisements.
According to the 265438+20th Century Business Herald, during the period of 1- 10 this year, the website of Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau published 1 19 cases of administrative punishment on educational institutions, including 44 cases of illegal advertising punishment, ranking second among all the reasons for punishment, second only to cases in which the business license was revoked due to continuous business suspension.
Especially since May this year, the epidemic situation has gradually stabilized, educational institutions have begun to resume enrollment, and the number and proportion of illegal advertising cases have risen sharply, accounting for 73% of all cases in the same period.
Among these 44 cases, there were 27 offline education institutions and 7 online education institutions/kloc-0.
By business field, extracurricular tutoring 17, early education and quality education 7, college students' examination and adult vocational training 20. Advertising violations in K 12 extracurricular training institutions, which are in the "window", account for a considerable proportion of all illegal cases.
From the category of advertisements, enrollment advertisements account for the vast majority, with 37 cases, 4 cases of joining advertisements and 3 other cases (promotion tools, app, etc.). ).
In terms of the amount of fines, there were 3 cases above 200,000 yuan, 8 cases from 10-200,000 yuan, 5 cases from 554.38+million yuan, 8 cases from10-500,000 yuan and 20 cases from100,000 yuan. The maximum fine is 300,000 yuan, and the minimum fine is 100 yuan. It can be seen that even the law enforcement departments in the same city have great differences in the amount of fines, but the total amount of fines is low.
Article 24 of the Advertising Law stipulates that education and training advertisements shall not make explicit or implied promises about entering a higher school, passing the examination, obtaining a degree or qualification certificate, or the effect of education and training.
Tutorabc's illegal advertising slogan is considered to have violated this ban. In reality, not only "2 1 day remembers 3000 words", but also the relatively vague formulation is illegal.
For example, the poster of a discipline counseling and training institution in Shanghai declared that it was "guaranteed to get points" and was fined 20,000 yuan; K 12 online education institution Yousi One-to-One website scored "really high score" and was fined 4000 yuan.
For primary and secondary school students, "getting points" is the most attractive advertisement. For adult vocational training, the most attractive thing is "salary increase".
ExcelHome Cloud Classroom, an online IT training institution, described in its official advertising soft article that the monthly salary of a company's employees is 5,000 yuan, and the monthly salary of supervisors is 20,000 yuan. The ability difference is reflected in the use level of Excel software.
The decision on administrative punishment reads: This article not only expresses the guarantee commitment of this kind of education and training, but also strengthens the cognition of the advertising audience through the follow-up "student feedback" content.
Take the online education advertisements posted on Tencent Video APP as an example. Many advertisements are "very similar" to the contents of the punished cases.
For example, in the advertisement of "Chinese reading and writing is divided into classes" in a live class of homework help, the slogan "90% of students have to take the exam in 20 class hours" was put forward.
Teenagers got an advertisement for "a course to improve the writing ability of the whole soul", saying that it was "a writing skill course that key schools are also learning". Zhang Quanling, a famous former host of CCTV, went out personally and said in an advertisement: "Let your children have a Chinese class, and all children in primary schools in Lian Gang can dictate a 500-word composition on the spot.".
"Online education advertisements occupy almost all major websites, constantly selling anxiety to parents, and at the same time vaguely suggesting the magical effect of online education, with the aim of attracting students." The above-mentioned insiders said.
But in reality, is it really just because law enforcement is not in place that all illegal acts can't be investigated? Is it also related to the difficulty in identifying the "guarantee promise" stipulated in the Advertising Law?
This leads to the "flexibility" of advertising law enforcement, that is, if an advertisement is not considered misleading enough, it will not be considered illegal.
"Recommend and prove in the name or image of the beneficiary" is also the hardest hit area for illegal educational advertisements.
K 12 Tiefang Online, an online education institution, advertised in official website at the beginning of 20 19, introducing several students who "made a breakthrough here", including their names, schools and scores in the senior high school entrance examination. The decision on administrative punishment reads: In the above advertisements, all students (that is, beneficiaries) are recommended and proved for their courses and teaching quality. Finally fined 6000 yuan.
EF EF Education also opened a "Star Student" column on its children's English WeChat service number, and published four advertisements in the name of four underage students for recommendation. Law enforcement agencies think this is illegal, and EF Education withdrew these advertisements at the beginning of this year.
Joining is an important operation mode of traditional offline educational institutions, and educational institutions need to publish joining advertisements to find potential investors. Article 25 of the Advertising Law stipulates that advertisements for commodities or services with expected return on investment, such as investment promotion, should give reasonable hints or warnings about possible risks and risk responsibilities, and should not make a guarantee commitment for future effects, benefits or relevant information, express or imply capital preservation, risk-free or guaranteed benefits.
However, during the period from February 30th, 20 19 to March 2nd, 2020, only international education advertised: "0 experience investment, 1 one-stop service, you can easily operate the school with or without academic background", and the above advertisements were regarded as not giving reasonable hints or warnings about the possible risks and risk responsibilities of investment.
In addition to the content requirements of education and training advertisements, the Advertising Law also stipulates how to identify false advertisements. In reality, educational advertisements are easy to violate "other situations that deceive and mislead consumers with false or misleading contents" in the Advertising Law.
A college entrance examination newspaper volunteer APP named You Volunteer said in the advertisement that 689 colleges and universities have settled in the platform. From September 20 19 to June 20 10, law enforcement officers randomly visited some colleges and universities in Shanghai, Jinan, Fuzhou, Kunming, Changchun and other places that provided admission application forms. When visiting colleges and universities, they all said that they did not enter the excellent volunteer platform, nor did they authorize the platform to publish college information.
In addition to the provisions of the Advertising Law on false advertisements, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law also stipulates that false or misleading commercial propaganda is not allowed. In reality, there are also cases of punishing educational institutions according to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
20 18,10 June, some users reported to the State Administration of Market Supervision in writing the false propaganda of Suntech, an online education platform, including "false propaganda such as cooperation with Yunnan University, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics and Yunnan Normal University in the process of enrollment propaganda", "Suntech is a student-aided institution designated by the national education department, and it is not registered in Suntech, so it will increase the mid-term and final exams!"
2065438+March 2009, the law enforcement department found that Suntech had violated the provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law that false propaganda was not allowed, and fined 500,000 yuan.
"In reality, the Advertising Law is more applicable to law enforcement agencies, and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law adjusts the market competition order more, that is, safeguarding the dispute rights between enterprises, but the Anti-Unfair Competition Law has greater punishment and stronger shock." Zhu Wei, deputy director of Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said.
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