Member Article

Are you an influencer? Take note! The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority has now published guidelines that influencers should follow when uploading sponsored posts on social media platforms.

We all know how important advertising is in the business world and, with the number of sponsored posts that are flooding social media platforms, businesses have taken to use influencers as the new powerhouses of digital marketing.

As was discussed in our previous article on the topic, we do not have laws that specifically regulate influencer marketing. However, the Consumer Affairs Act [1] – which transposes the provisions of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive [2] – aims to protect consumers from the consequences of unfair commercial practices adopted by traders, including influencers.

The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority has now published guidelines that influencers should follow when posting sponsored posts on social media to ensure that they do not infringe consumer protection rules. Amongst the disclosure guidelines that should be followed, influencers must:

• clearly indicate that their content includes advertising and use clear disclosure labels on such content;
• place disclosure labels at the beginning of the caption used on the posts uploaded and ensure that these labels are clearly visible.

Influencers should bear in mind that if they do not abide by these guidelines (and consumer rules), and judicial proceedings are instituted against them, the Civil Court will impose penalties if they are found to have breached consumer laws.

 If you are an influencer and you want to ensure that your ads are in line with consumer rules and the MCCAA’s guidelines, contact Dr Laura Spiteri and Dr Annalies Muscat.

You can view our previous articles in the links below.

Footnotes:

[1] Chapter 378 of the laws of Malta

[2] Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council

This document does not purport to give legal, financial or tax advice. Should you require further information or legal assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Laura Spiteri and Dr Annalies Muscat

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