This week the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that six influencers are subject to further sanctions for consistently failing to disclose ads on Instagram, despite multiple warnings and guidance on understanding the rules.
The ASA is releasing its own targeted ads against the six rule-breaking influencers on Instagram which alert consumers to their failure to follow the rules. This sanction follows action taken in June last year where the ASA set up a webpage for naming and shaming those influencers who repeatedly fail to disclose social media posts as ads.
The ASA has been proactively monitoring influencers’ social media posts and last year found that the rules on disclosure were not followed in 65% of ad posts on Instagram, and it has been made clear that further sanctions may be imposed if non-compliance persists.
The ASA has made it very clear in its guidance for influencers that the use of #ad in an upfront and prominent manner is the best way of communicating the commercial nature of social media content. The main thing to remember is that it needs to be made obvious.
Our rules are clear: it must be obvious to consumers before they read, ‘like’ or otherwise interact with a social media post if what they are engaging with is advertising.
https://www.asa.org.uk/news/asa-escalates-sanctions-against-influencers-who-repeatedly-break-the-rules.html
