Research On The Security Obligations Of E-commerce Platform Operator

The promulgation of the E-commerce Law has filled the gap in the security obligations of virtual internet space,and the rights and interests of consumers have been further protected.However,it cannot be denied that the application of e-commerce platform operators’ security obligations is still controversial in theory and practice.In the context of Article 38(2)of the E-commerce Law,due to the lack of clear provisions on the content of security obligations and the form of responsibility for violating security obligations,it has caused certain difficulties in the application of security obligations for e-commerce platform operators in judicial practice.After sorting out relevant cases involving the safety protection obligations of e-commerce platform operators,three cases were selected.Based on the court’s judgment path and results in handling such cases,three controversial focuses of the safety protection obligations of e-commerce platform operators were identified:unclear definition of e-commerce platform operators,unclear specific content of safety protection obligations,and unclear types of responsibilities when violating safety protection obligations.Based on the above controversial focus,the following analysis is conducted:firstly,in terms of defining e-commerce platform operators,they are divided into three types: "built-up","self operated",and "new".Based on the identity characteristics of e-commerce platform operators as platform administrators,they belong to a new service intermediary role and have a legal status similar to that of network service providers;Secondly,in terms of the specific content of safety guarantee obligations,based on the recognition that safety guarantee obligations belong to statutory obligations,the specific content of safety guarantee obligations is subdivided into pre prevention obligations,during exclusion obligations,and post rescue obligations according to different dangerous time periods;Finally,from the perspective of protecting consumer rights and interests,the assumption of responsibility for violating security obligations by e-commerce platform operators should be a presumption of fault liability.Further analysis of the types of infringement of security obligations reveals that the applicable premise of Article 38(2)of the E-commerce Law is the infringement of several people who have no intention to contact each other,Thus,it advocates that the legal regulation of "corresponding responsibility" is a "corresponding supplementary responsibility".In response to the above controversial issues,three suggestions for improvement are proposed: firstly,to clarify the identification of e-commerce platform operators through the behavior subject,behavior mode,and behavior purpose;The second is to establish the standards for fulfilling safety protection obligations through "statutory standards","rationality standards",and "standards for good managers";The third is to clarify the applicability of supplementary responsibilities borne by e-commerce platform operators.