Consumer Alert
New brochure for social media influencers
Chances are you know an influencer – a person who works with a brand to recommend or endorse a product in social media. Maybe you work at a company that uses influencers or perhaps that describes you, a friend, or a family member. Then you should read a new FTC brochure: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.
Influencers have an obligation to stay on the right side of the law. If you endorse a product or service through social media, your message should make it obvious when you have a relationship – a “material connection” – with the brand. That could be a personal, family, or employment relationship or a financial relationship – for example, if a brand pays you or gives you free or discounted products.
Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers answers the questions you may have about when to disclose, how to disclose, and what else you need to know. It also explains that if you don’t have a relationship with a brand and are just telling people about a product you bought and happen to like, you don’t need to say that you don’t have a brand relationship. (The brochure is also available in Spanish.)
The FTC has more resources about influencers, endorsements, and product reviews. And watch this new video that explains some of the legal basics.
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In reply to How strictly are the Social by Mort
The FTC’s new guide, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers, does not contain rules or regulations. Rather, it is a guide from FTC staff intended to help influencers stay on the right side of the law. In particular, the guide reflects what FTC staff believes that influencers need to do – in terms of when and how to disclose brand relationships – to avoid violations of the FTC Act. That law prohibits, among other things, false or deceptive advertising. The FTC has brought a number of enforcement actions involving deceptive endorsements and testimonials in advertising, including cases where the advertising was in social media, and the agency will continue to be active in this area.
In reply to The FTC is hard at work again by EBurnett
In reply to So how does one file a by Influenced
Thank you for checking, and you're right, there isn't a specific category for that.
But you could choose "Internet Services, Online Shopping or Computers," then "Something Else" to report. The complaint process lets you tell what happened in your own words. The details you give in that field, for example by writing "X person didn't disclose that she's a paid influencer for Y company," are essential to the people who use the database for investigations.
In reply to So how does one file a by Influenced
In reply to Would like to speak with y by Neil Rabeaux
This FTC brochure gives tips on when and how influencers can make good disclosures: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.
You can report a problem to the FTC at www.FTC.gov/Complaint. The information you give will go into a secure database that the FTC and other law enforcement agencies use for investigations.