On The Security Obligations And Responsibilities Of E-commerce Platform Operator

Article 38(2)of the E-commerce Law stipulates that for commodities or services related to consumers’ life and health,e-commerce platform operators who fail to fulfill their safety obligations to consumers and cause damage to consumers shall bear corresponding liabilities in accordance with the law.The law summarizes the experience of legislative and judicial interpretations such as the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests,the Law on Food Safety and the Law on Tort Liability,establishes the safety guarantee obligation of platform operators in a clear way for the first time,and introduces the safety guarantee obligation into the virtual space of the network through legislation.This fully considers the new situation of the development of new forms of e-commerce in China at the present stage,responds to the value needs of strengthening the protection of consumer interests,and reflects the policy considerations of encouraging the continuous innovation and development of new forms of e-commerce.However,due to the vague and abstract expression of this article,it is not clear about the identification standard of safety guarantee obligation of platform operators,the nature of liability after breach of obligation,relevant elements for the establishment of liability,distribution of burden of proof,and the bearing of specific liability.The vagueness of legal concept leads to the problem of judicial application.Therefore,in view of the above problems,the thesis is divided into four parts:The first part introduces the connotation and development of security obligation,discusses the legitimacy of applying security obligation to e-commerce platform operators,and analyzes the difference and connection between it and security obligation of physical physical space;The second part compares and analyzes typical cases of security obligation of e-commerce platform operators,and analyzes the problems existing in the theory and trial practice of security obligation of e-commerce platform operators,paving the way for the following discussion.The third part is to determine the scope,content and performance standards of safety protection obligations of e-commerce platform operators.The fourth part,combined with the relevant theoretical basis of tort Liability of Civil Code,discusses specific issues such as the definition of liability and the sharing of liability for violating the safety guarantee obligation of e-commerce platform operators,and puts forward relevant supporting suggestions for safety guarantee obligation of e-commerce platform operators.