From 1 January 2026, when Law 75/2025/QH15 amending the Advertising Law takes effect, an influencer (KOL) is no longer a “paid poster” standing outside advertising law: the new Article 15a places on them a dedicated duty set as advertising-product carriers — verifying the advertiser and product documents, speaking of experience only after genuinely using the product, and letting viewers know it is advertising. An agency hiring KOLs must therefore redesign its contracts and content-approval process.
New KOL duties under Article 15a: three mandatory tasks
First, verification before accepting work: the advertising-product carrier must research and verify the advertiser reliability and check documents relating to the advertised product or service — product legal papers, declared information, and for special goods the advertising content confirmation. A KOL accepting a health-protection food advertisement lacking content confirmation violates at the acceptance step itself, before any post appears. Second, experience honesty: where advertising content presents product or service use, the carrier must have genuinely used or directly experienced that product or service — the line “I use it every day” about a never-opened product is a violation whose evidence sits inside the advertising content itself.
Third, advertising-nature disclosure: the carrier must inform recipients that the content is advertising through platform-appropriate recognition signs — an “advertising” or “sponsored” label, identifying hashtags such as #ad or #sponsored placed visibly, or the platform commercial-content tagging feature. Hiding the advertising nature — posting as a carefree natural experience share — is an independently prohibited act, and the first point digital regulators examine when reviewing commercial content.
Liability allocation when advertising is untruthful
Advertising law allocates liability by role, and roles do not substitute for one another: the advertiser (the brand) bears primary liability for the truthfulness and accuracy of product information and its advertising content; the advertising service trader (the agency) must check the legality of the product, documents and content before providing the service and bears liability within its service scope; the carrier (the KOL) bears liability for its own Article 15a duties — verification, genuine experience, disclosure — and for statements it adds beyond the approved script. A wrong claim supplied by the brand does not automatically excuse an agency that failed to check, and even less a KOL who affirmed a non-existent experience.
When a violation occurs, handling runs in parallel layers: administrative fines in the advertising field under Decree 87/2026/ND-CP (replacing Decree 38/2021/ND-CP in this field from 15 May 2026) against each actor for its own act; forced content removal, correction and apology as regulated; compensation liability toward consumers harmed by trusting the false advertisement; and for products under sector management such as drugs, food and cosmetics, fallout reaching the product file itself. Contracts among brand, agency and KOL only reallocate financial risk between the parties through indemnity clauses — they cannot stop the State from fining each actor.
The KOL contract and compliance process of a proper campaign
A post-2026 KOL contract needs at minimum: the pre-approved content and script scope, with the KOL barred from adding use, ingredient or efficacy claims beyond the script; the KOL commitment to have used or to genuinely experience the product before posting day where content carries an experience element; the duty to attach advertising labels per each platform standard and keep them for the post whole life; the brand and agency right to demand content amendment or removal immediately when authorities or platforms require; liability allocation and indemnity by the party causing the violation (wrong documents from the brand, self-added claims from the KOL, checking failure from the agency); and campaign evidence archiving — approved scripts, checked product papers, screenshots of labelled posts.
The corresponding operating process has four gates: the papers gate (the agency verifies product papers and the content confirmation for special goods before scripting); the script gate (every claim cross-checked against product documents, no claim beyond the declaration); the experience and label gate (the KOL receives and genuinely uses the product before posting day, and the draft post is approved including its advertising label); and the post-check gate (monitoring that live posts match the approved version, handling materially misleading comments, removing or fixing immediately on demand). A KOL campaign passing all four gates carries compliance costs far below one mid-campaign takedown with three-party fines.
The 2025 amended Advertising Law has pulled KOLs from the grey zone of “paid posting” into the formal advertising liability system. Brand, agency and KOL each hold a clear share of work — and a campaign designed with four check gates turns this new duty into a trust advantage rather than a legal risk hanging overhead. This draft is pending review by the QA Council.
Frequently asked questions
What contract is needed when hiring a KOL for advertising?
The advertising service contract with the KOL should fix: the pre-approved script and claims, barring self-added efficacy assertions beyond the script; the KOL commitment to have genuinely experienced or to experience the product where content is experiential; the duty to attach advertising identification per platform standards and maintain it for the post life; the right to demand amendment or removal of content immediately when needed; liability allocation and indemnity clauses by each party fault; and campaign evidence archiving. The contract allocates financial risk among brand, agency and KOL, though it does not replace each party administrative liability.
Who is liable when advertising is untruthful?
All three roles for their own parts: the brand (advertiser) bears primary liability for product information truthfulness and advertising content; the agency (advertising service trader) bears liability for its duty to check the legality of the product, documents and content before execution; the KOL (carrier) bears liability for the verification, genuine-experience and disclosure duties under Article 15a of the amended Advertising Law, plus self-added statements. Authorities fine each actor for its own act — an internal contract clause grants no immunity before the State.
Is an advertising hashtag mandatory?
Disclosure that the content is advertising is mandatory — the duty sits in Article 15a of the Advertising Law (as amended by Law 75/2025/QH15, effective 1 January 2026) for advertising-product carriers. The form flexes by platform: an “advertising” or “sponsored content” label, the platform branded-partner tagging tool, or identifying hashtags such as #ad or #sponsored in a visible position all perform it; what is not allowed is hiding the advertising nature or placing the sign where an ordinary viewer cannot recognise it.
How is a KOL fined for false advertising?
By the specific violation act under Decree 87/2026/ND-CP on administrative penalties in culture and advertising (replacing Decree 38/2021/ND-CP in this field from 15 May 2026): untruthful or misleading advertising, failure to disclose advertising nature, or advertising special goods without content confirmation each carry their own fine frames, plus forced content removal and correction. A KOL acting as an individual bears the individual rate; the brand and agency are fined independently for their own acts, and consumer harm opens a further civil compensation path.
Must a KOL genuinely use the product before advertising it?
Yes, where the advertising content presents usage experience: Article 15a of the amended Advertising Law requires the carrier to have used or directly experienced the product or service when advertising on that experience basis. Where content only introduces information supplied by the brand without affirming personal experience, the experience duty does not arise in that way — but the KOL must still verify the advertiser reliability and check product documents before carrying. The agency brief should state clearly whether content is experiential or introductory so the right duty applies.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council