CCPC, ASA unites to sharpen the watch around influencer marketing

This year, the CCPC issued its first compliance messages against two ‘prominent’ influencers.

The Irish Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has agreed to provide the Competitive and Consumer Protection Committee (CCPC) data that it hopes will improve the legal supervision of the advertising practices of social media.

According to the agreement, ASA shares information it receives via its online reporting portal, including the names, images on social media and the user names of influencers who repeatedly do not meet the rules.

According to the Irish law on consumer protection, influencers of social media are excluded from misleading consumers by hidden or incorrectly labeled advertisements. They are obliged to clearly label commercial messages to comply with the ASA and the Consumer Protection Act. Moreover, false and misleading commercial functions are also considered illegal.

With the new agreement for sharing data, the ASA will share information about suspected breaches with the CCPC. Larger access to the public reports is seen as a way to stimulate the ability of the consumer watchdog to investigate potential activities of influencers of social media.

As a legal authority, the CCPC has a series of enforcement tools under its belt, including compliance messages, notifications for fixed payments, companies, prohibitions and prosecution.

“Consumer law protects consumers when entering into the commercial content placed by online influencers. Commercial content of influencers must be clearly labeled as such and should not be misleading,” said Patrick Kenny, a committee member at the CCPC.

“With the ASA we provided guidance for influencers to help them follow the law. This year we have issued our first compliance messages against two prominent influencers. We will continue to follow this sector closely and will act where we see infringements here.”

One of the influencers where the ASA enforced complaints against was Julie Haynes, who was established that he had violated rules by using a filter while applying a skin care product.

“With the new agreement for sharing data, the ASA can share reports from the public and we will support ourselves in protecting consumers when it comes to advertisements on social media,” Kenny added.

In 2023, the CCPC and the ASA jointly published a guidance for Irish influencers on clear labeling of advertisements on social media. This included rules for labeling “gifted” items, the use of #AD and advertising their own products or services.

The ASA is a self -regulating body that is responsible for promoting, regulating and maintaining marketing communication standards in Ireland. The body assesses trends of complaints about marketing communication that may be against its code. It can investigate issues with regard to individual problems with the marketing of influencer and ask the person to break the rules to remove or change the relevant mail.

Orla Twomey, the Chief Executive of the ASA, said that the agreement for sharing data “is marking an important step to improve the results of the regulations for consumers in Ireland, which has guaranteed a strong, responsive and resilient framework for the future. Social media is an important area of ​​our focus and this agreement is a further strengthening of the collaboration of the collaboration of the collaboration of the collaboration and a further strengthening of the collaboration of the collaboration of the ASA and CCPC.” ”” ””

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