Legal Protection for E-commerce Business Actors regarding Consumer Reviews

Julia Choeirunnissa¹, Martin Situmorang², Muhamad Zidan³, Endang Sutrisno⁴, Alip Rahman⁵

Universitas Swadaya Gunung Jati, West Java, Indonesia

jchoierunnissa@gmail.com¹, martinsitumorang10@gmail.com², muh.zidan14@gmail.com³, endang.sutrisno@ugj.ac.id⁴, aliprahman@gmail.com⁵

Keywords

Abstract

legal protection, business actors, e-commerce

Customer reviews in e-commerce play an important role in influencing the decisions made by customers. Before making a purchase, many people read positive customer reviews because they can offer useful information to potential buyers and increase their overall level of trust in the product. The purpose of this research is to analyse the good faith of business actors and how it impacts the law stipulated in the Consumer Protection Law. This research utilizes a normative legal research study whose findings show that consumers are not liable for criticism that harms businesses, according to the Consumer Protection Law (UUPK). In particular, Article 5a requires consumers to pay special attention to product descriptions listed in stores. In the e-commerce business world, business actors utilize the latest technology such as the internet to facilitate their business activities, yes; they get a number of benefits such as serving customers and making it easier to access distant information more quickly. If business actors receive negative reviews from consumers that do not match the facts so as to cause losses to business actors, the legal protection for business actors based on a positive legal perspective will be analysed. Based on the results of the analysis, it is found that giving negative reviews by consumers without a clear explanation and not according to the facts can harm business actors. This is considered a bad faith action by consumers.

Corresponding Author: Julia Choeirunnissa

E-mail: jchoierunnissa@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

E-commerce has emerged as one of the most preferred and successful commercial systems in the digital era (Rafiah, 2019) . E-commerce has allowed companies to carry out broader and more flexible purchasing transactions by acting as intermediaries over the internet. It also allows customers to purchase goods and services from various locations without having to leave their homes (Suggestion, Ardhya, & Setianto, 2020) .

Due to continuously developing information and communication technology, a large number of businesses in the commercial sector can now facilitate online transactions through the creation of websites or marketplace applications. There are many options available for people to carry out online buying and selling transactions from several marketplaces on offer (Arrofi, Ajie, & Sutabri, 2024) .

It is very important to provide legal protection to business actors who have good intentions for several reasons, one of which is to foster a conducive business environment. (Yuliana, 2022 . Consumer trust will increase when business actors feel legally protected and are more inclined to carry out their operations ethically and in accordance with the law (Akbar Bahtiar et al., 2023) . Consumers will be more confident and comfortable doing business with companies that promise to behave honorably and recognize a dynamic and competitive marketplace. Fair legal protection will encourage the development of a strong and competitive marketplace where business actors compete wisely and do not harm customers.

Business actors have obligations in E-commerce transactions under the Information and Electronic Transactions Law (UUITE) and the Consumer Protection Law (UUPK) (Suggestion et al., 2020) . If customers find products and/or services that do not comply with applicable regulations, business actors must be responsible for the losses suffered by customers (Muthiah, 2016) . Apart from that, business actors who carry out transactions via E-commerce have received sufficient legal protection from the Consumer Protection Law (UUPK).

However, there are still several practical obstacles to legal protection for business actors with good intentions, including: Lack of knowledge of the law: Many business actors are vulnerable to violations and ineffective law enforcement because they do not fully understand their rights and obligations under UUPK: UUPK is still not enforced properly, which means that business actors who violate it escape harsh penalties and face a convoluted legal system: For business actors seeking legal certainty, the judicial process related to consumer protection claims is often complicated and time consuming (Atmajaya, nd) .

Where this becomes a challenge for business actors is when the business actor suffers from the actions of customers who provide negative reviews and ratings (Budiman & Iwan, 2023) . These reviews and ratings are obviously very detrimental to businesses because they result in inappropriate reviews and ratings for their stores, which decrease sales because they erode the trust of other potential customers who might otherwise purchase from the marketplace (Tuti, 2024). Additionally, Indonesians are relatively unfamiliar with incidents involving unfavorable reviews.

Therefore, the following initiatives need to be carried out to strengthen legal protection for business actors with good intentions: Increase UUPK socialization and education: Apart from strengthening law enforcement, the government must also increase education and socialization of UUPK to business actors and the wider community: Clarify guidelines and punishment, improving the capabilities of law enforcement personnel, and streamlining the legal system. Everything is needed to improve law enforcement's ability to combat UUPK violations: Simplifying procedures and speeding up case resolution are necessary ways to facilitate legal processes related to consumer protection issues. The main concern with the phenomenon mentioned above is how business actors who experience losses due to consumers with bad intentions can be legally protected.

The aim of this study is to analyse the good faith of business actors and its impact on the laws stipulated in the Consumer Protection Law. This research focuses on the importance of good faith in running a business, especially in relation to consumers. The Consumer Protection Law sets out various rules and standards that business actors must comply with, such as the prohibition of trading goods or services that are not in accordance with the promises offered and the obligation to provide clear and correct information. This study will examine the extent to which businesses have complied with the law and how good faith affects their compliance. The findings are expected to provide new insights into the importance of an ethical and transparent business culture, and the implications for future consumer protection policies.

RESEARCH METHODS

The main problem being researched, the author uses a normative juridical legal research method (normative legal research method). The normative juridical research method is library legal research carried out by examining library materials or secondary data alone. Normative juridical research aims to research and analyze legal norms related to legal protection for e-commerce business actors who have good intentions. By using a deductive thinking method (a way of thinking in drawing conclusions drawn from something of a general nature that has been proven to be true and the conclusion is aimed at something of a specific nature). Thus, the object analyzed using a qualitative approach is a research method that refers to legal norms contained in statutory regulations.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Legislative regulations, including the UUPK and Civil Code, are categorized as civil law according to the author's analysis because the majority of the rules regulate the private sphere and only apply to parties involved in a dispute, so it is appropriate for business actors to use them as a first step before moving on. to criminal law as the final means of resolving disputes (ultimum remidium).

Although recently there have been several examples of problems caused by consumers which have had a negative impact on business actors, such as situations where customers provide negative ratings and reviews on products they buy or sell through this marketplace, the implementation of the principle of legal equality in Indonesia is rule of law is still very lacking. This is based on the many regulations that protect consumers more than business actors, such as the Consumer Protection Law.

Based on actual research findings from several marketplaces, the data shows a number of phenomena related to negative customer reviews (Tuti, 2024) . Ideally, a customer rates and reviews a product according to the quality of the item they purchased and the service provided by the store, not vice versa (Rumondang, Sudirman, & Sitorus, 2020) . This is because it is very detrimental to business actors when customers give negative reviews without providing a clear explanation or do not match the existing facts, thus causing harm to business actors.

Providing negative assessments and reviews in the situations described in the background above is an action that is not carried out in good faith (Yusuf, 2020) . The author believes that consumers have violated the principle of good faith by doing this without providing reasonable justification and encouraging dishonest behavior that is not carried out in good faith (Naldo, Purba, & Pasaribu, 2022) . Business actors who want to sell well and honestly (in good faith) will suffer losses if this is allowed to continue, therefore business actors need legal protection.

Because in essence both consumers and business actors have agreed to carry out buying and selling, and both have achieved their respective goals: consumers have ordered, paid and received goods in online buying and selling transactions through the marketplace, and business actors have sent goods in good condition (Zarkasi & Hariyanto, 2024). good and provide maximum service to consumers. However, in online transactions through the marketplace, there are still other things that consumers should fulfill properly and maximally, such as providing reviews as a form of thanks or as suggestions and criticism to the seller. However, consumers are considered to have carried out dishonest actions that are misleading, giving rise to accusations that they are not being honest when providing reviews. This happens when customers do not use their rights honestly to provide appropriate reviews of the shop's services and the condition of the goods they purchased.

According to the author's analysis, customers have not only violated the principle of good faith by providing fake reviews, but have also committed unlawful acts (onrechmatige daad) (Wardani, 2024) . This is supported by the opinions of legal experts in the theoretical framework mentioned above and with the existence of article 1365 which regulates that when consumers commit acts against the law and cause losses to business actors, then the business actors must be responsible for these losses, namely by compensating them. the loss (Ivan, 2023) .

Because the issue of reviews is still relatively new and not often discussed, marketplaces offer a first line of defense in the event of inappropriate negative reviews: businesses can respond to customer reviews to show that sellers are taking the issue seriously. If customers do not change their evaluation after taking this step, reviews on the marketplace show that there are methods to remove negative reviews. Businesses only need to contact customer support to send a review. Businesses must then seek approval from customers before deleting the review; After that, the review can be deleted.

Thus, the procedures followed in the industry to resolve these review issues remain quite complex and challenging. As a result, business actors have the right to express their rights because they are protected by UUPK and can do so even if the marketplace does not offer services or features that are clear and strong in terms of protection.

According to the author's analysis and opinion, there are still many legal gaps in consumer protection law because the articles in UUPK are unclear, especially Article 6 letter B, whether business actors have the right to report to BPSK if they are harmed by consumers. It is also stated that business actors have rights if they are harmed by consumers who do not have good intentions, but it is not clear how these rights will be implemented and where these rights will be protected.

Because there is no clause in the UUPK that gives business actors the authority to submit or complain to the Consumer Dispute Resolution Agency or to the general court if their consumers harm them. UUPK must be revised as a result of the increasing number of current issues affecting business actors as a result of consumer behavior.

CONCLUSION

Deep e-commerce world business is user technology latest like the internet for make it easier activity business, yes get a number of a number of profit like service customer And makes it easier accessing distant information more fast . If perpetrator business given review negative from consumers who don't in accordance fact so that cause loss for perpetrator business so will analyzed protection law for perpetrator business the based on perspective law positive . Perpetrator business online shop is entitled get protection law if buyer No have faith well, that should be it become condition. Related faith No Good consumer , consumer responsible answer For pay return equivalent amount with losses incurred by perpetrator effort , ending contract , replace risk , and bear burden case If problem This need brought to court .

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