Social media influencers must label paid posts as advertisement, rules German court

By Team Newsable | First Published Sep 10, 2021, 9:50 AM IST

The court ruled that when a fitness influencer was paid to promote a brand of jam, she should have made it evident that she was advertising.

A top German court decided on Thursday that social media influencers who get payment from corporations to promote items must explicitly designate such posts as ads.
The Federal Court of Justice decided in the instances of three influencers on Facebook's social media platform Instagram that they can exhibit items without the advertising label if they are not compensated. Companies may pay influencers with thousands of followers huge sums of money to advertise a product on Instagram.

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The court ruled that when a fitness influencer was paid to promote a brand of jam, she should have made it evident that she was advertising. However, it rejected a lawsuit against television host and influencer Cathy Hummels, whose tweet about a stuffed toy directed visitors to the manufacturer's website. The court held that she was not required to mark it as an advertisement because she was not compensated for the promotion. Instagram signed an agreement with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year to tighten down on covert advertising by influencers on its photo and video platform.

Also Read | Instagram to ask for birthday to use the app?

Recently, Instagram said that it would begin requiring users to confirm their birthdays as part of an effort to establish extra safety safeguards for children. Instagram has considered building a version of its app for children under 13, prompting politicians to urge the social media company to abandon the plans, stating that the company has a "clear record of failing to secure minors on its platforms." In a blog post, Instagram claimed that the data will be used to "ensure we deliver the relevant experiences to the appropriate age group."
Last month, the company announced that when users under the age of 16 join the site, they will be automatically granted a secret account. When users opened Instagram, the app claimed that it would ask for their birthdays and then display numerous pop-up notifications if they did not enter their birthdate.

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