E-commerce platforms urged to use automated filters to prevent spread of fakes

E-commerce platforms urged to use automated filters to prevent spread of fakes

Smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods continued to grow more complex, larger in scale and wider in scope, particularly on e-commerce platforms and in cyberspace.

The online retail market reached about US$31 billion in 2025, up 25.5 per cent from 2024. — VNA/VNS Photo Hương Giang

E-commerce platforms are being urged to deploy automated content-filtering tools to curb the spread of counterfeit goods, after authorities said more than 13,700 online shops were removed last year for selling fake, banned or untraceable products.

Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Võ Tân Thành said at a forum on online trade fraud organised by VCCI on January 22 that e-commerce had become a key component of the country's economic structure, helping to boost growth and enhance competitiveness.

However, smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods continued to grow more complex, larger in scale and wider in scope, particularly on e-commerce platforms and in cyberspace, he said.

Nguyễn Thuận Đạt, chief executive of DAFC and a representative of the IPPG group, which distributes around 138 international brands, said counterfeit goods, intellectual property infringements and products of unclear origin were spreading across e-commerce platforms, social networks and influencer livestreams.

He added that genuine businesses were being heavily affected by counterfeit goods, uncontrolled grey-market imports and trade fraud in the online environment.

According to Tạ Dịu Thương from the Vietnam Multi-Level Marketing Association, removing violations is just like a drop in the ocean, as fraudsters can immediately create dozens or even hundreds of new links or use technical tools to continue pushing illegal products onto platforms at a speed with which manual post-inspection methods cannot keep pace.

This underscored the urgent need to renovate the management approach from post-inspection to control at the entry point of e-commerce platforms, Thương said, calling for platforms to be equipped with sufficiently robust technological tools to review and block content from the outset alongside the mandatory identification of sellers under new regulations.

Hương said one solution would be to establish filters for intellectual property based on lists of keywords and brands that are officially recognised and protected by State authorities.

She said that if a business entity without a licence or authorisation deliberately uses protected keywords, the system must automatically block the display of that information.

“The adoption of automated tools would not only protect major brands from unfair competition, but would also help e-commerce platforms enhance their own credibility and brand value,” Hương said, adding that combining seller identification with automated content filters is key to creating a transparent and safe online business environment.

Lê Thị Hà, from the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that requiring shop identification through the national VNeID identity system under the Law on E-commerce, which takes effect from July 1 this year, would improve transparency and curb anonymous sellers who could previously close and reopen shops.

The agency estimated Việt Nam’s online retail market reached about US$31 billion in 2025, up 25.5 per cent from 2024.

Statistics from e-commerce market data firm Metric show the four largest platforms — Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki — currently host around 601,800 shops, down nearly 7.5 per cent from a year earlier. 

Bizhub