EU Commission: online influencers rarely disclose paid contents and advertisements. Brussels calls to “transparency”

Today, the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities of 22 member states, Norway and Iceland, have published the results of a number of social media posts from influencers. “The sweep found that nearly all (97%) of these influencers posted commercial content but only one in five systematically indicated that their content was advertising”. The goal of the sweep “was to verify whether influencers disclose their advertising activities as required under EU consumer law”. Posts of 576 influencers published on the main social media platforms were checked, states a release issued from Brussels earlier today. Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, commented: “with the sprawling development of social media platforms, the influencer scene has become a full-fledged business. Today, most influencers get revenues from their posts. However, our findings show that they do not always disclose it to their followers. Influencers hold considerable sway over their followers, many of which are minors. I call on them to be much more transparent to their audience”.
Valentina Bombelli