Celebrities warned about social media conduct.
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Celebrities warned about social media conduct.
Sixteen UK based celebrities have entered into a formal agreement with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stating that they will not continue to advertise brands on social media without declaring it to their followers and viewers.
The CMA launched an investigation after they discovered that numerous celebrities and online influencers were being paid to advertise products without declaring this to their impressionable fan bases. It found that paid product placements were not always being made clear, leading to fears that consumers could mistake them for personal recommendations from their online heroes.
The CMA have not gone as far to make a decision on whether the influencers actually breached consumer law but stated that all 16 had volunteered to change their practices.
The CMA said that if they failed to do so it could take out a court order against them, which could lead to fines and up to two years in prison if they break the conditions of the agreement.
Speaking on the government website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/competition-and-markets-authority Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, said
“You should be able to tell as soon as you look at a post if there is some form of payment or reward involved, so you can decide whether something is really worth spending your hard-earned money on.”
Further guidance was expressed on https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/social-media-endorsements which stated:
“Audiences need to know when an influencer has been paid, incentivised or in any way rewarded to endorse, promote, or review a product or service, including whether a product or service was given or loaned to them for free”.
All eyes will be on the 16, which includes celebrities ranging from Rita Ora to Made in Chelsea’s Mario Falcone to see if their online posts are demonstrably altered in the coming months. If not, time will tell how hard the CMA will come down on them.
© Whitestone Chambers
Whitestone Chambers
4 King’s Bench Walk
Temple, London, EC4Y 7DL
Tel: 020 7822 8822 Fax: 020 7822 8844
www.whitestonechambers.com