Seminar on Consumer Protection Recommends Advertising Regulation

Participants in a seminar on "The role and responsibility of the media in consumer protection and national economy" recommended that the media and Palestinian government take measures against  those producing misleading commercials for goods and services, and those who market Israeli and settlement products and goods.

The seminar was organized by the Birzeit University Media Development Center in cooperation with the Palestinian Consumer Protection Association on March 15, 2014 on the occasion of Consumer Day. It was attended by students of an advertising course offered at An-Najah National University, Al-Quds University and Birzeit University.

Association head Salah Haniyeh opened the seminar by emphasizing the need to verify content advertising, calling upon the Palestine Standards Institution to determine specifications for commercials and ads so they are clear for the consumer.

Center director Nibal Thawabteh also spoke, saying that consumer protection requires attention to more than the product’s expiry date. She presented a televised press report on price differences for the same merchandise/commodity between Palestinian cities, calling for the need to reconsider information tools used to protect the consumer and to hold a media campaign entitled, "Who deceives us is not one of us."

Participants also called for the need to divert media attention to consumer protection and encourage new journalists to specialize in this area, as well as the formation of a body that regulates advertisements and monitors advertising ethics, especially the use of children and images in a manner that is harmful.