Disclose, don’t mislead, say central rules for influencers
3 min read . Updated: 07 Mar 2023, 12:15 AM IST
Premium- Guidelines apply to celebrities, influencers and virtual influencers on social media platforms
As the market of social media influencers expands in India, the Centre on Monday issued a set of guidelines stating that all celebrities and social media influencers must put clear, prominent, and extremely hard-to-miss disclaimers in their endorsement posts.
The Department of Consumer Affairs, under the ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, issued the guidelines called “Endorsements Know-Hows!" for celebrities, influencers, and virtual influencers on social media platforms.
The guidelines aim to ensure that individuals don’t mislead their audiences when endorsing products or services and that they are in compliance with the Consumer Protection Act and any associated rules or guidelines.
The department has observed that there is confusion on the use of the appropriate disclosure term to refer to a partnership. Therefore, for paid or barter brand endorsement, any of the following disclosures may be used: “advertisement," “ad," “sponsored," “collaboration," or “partnership." However, the term must be indicated as hashtag or headline text.
According to the guidelines, endorsements must be made in simple and clear language, and terms such as “advertisement", “sponsored", “collaboration" or “paid promotion" will have to be used. Individuals must not endorse any product or service that they have not personally used or in which due diligence has not been done by them.
The guidelines specify that individuals or groups who have access to an audience and the power to affect their audiences’ purchasing decisions or opinions about a product, service, brand, or experience, because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience, must properly disclose them.
It is essential for celebrities, influencers, and virtual influencers to adhere to these guidelines to maintain transparency and authenticity with their target audience.“For endorsements in a picture, disclosures should be superimposed over the image, enough for viewers to notice. For endorsements in a video or a live stream, disclosures should be made in both audio and video format and displayed continuously and prominently during the entire stream," the ministry said.
“Social media influencers, whether their audience is significant or small, impact the lives of everybody who watches their content. They do have a responsibility to ensure what they are publishing is not harmful or offensive." This statement made by the single judge of the Bombay High Court brought into limelight the impact and responsibilities of social media influencers.
Social media influencers are individuals who have established credibility in a specific industry with access to a large audience and the power to persuade others to act based on their recommendations. They represent a new type of independent third-party endorser who shape audience attitudes through blogs, posts, tweets, and the use of other social media. A social media influencer may be anyone from a blogger to a celebrity to an online entrepreneur.
In 2022, the Indian market for social media influencers was valued at ₹1,275 crore. By 2025, that number is expected to grow to ₹2,800 crore, a compound annual growth rate of 19–20%.
To be sure, this is not the first time that attempts have been made to curb influencer-driven misinformation on social media.