In the “crosshairs” of the national tax authorities, as well as the competition and consumer protection authorities, are the… influencers who deal with the promotion or sale of products, using their image.
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In particular, the Authorities are going to “dust off” the accounts of influencers in order to establish whether those who market products do so transparently and following the procedure provided for in European legislation.
As stated in a relevant press release, the European Commission, influencers who engage “in regular commercial activity, such as agreements to advertise products or services, are considered traders under EU law”, and are therefore required to transparently disclose such transactions.
The logic behind the upcoming controls is this: in conventional advertising, there is a code of good practice that defines what an advertiser can and cannot do. In theory, such rules also apply to online advertising, which includes the practices of influencers, but they need safeguards to ensure that unfair competition is not created.
In this direction, the Influencer Legal Hub has been created. , which aims to empower industry professionals to understand the rules governing their activities.
Influencers can learn, among other things, their legal obligations (when, where and how to disclose their advertising activities on social media) and what rights consumers have when buying products or services directly from them.
National Authorities reportedly have the right to carry out checks on accounts, as the companies that host them (Meta etc.), have signed a code of good practice with the European Union.
source: SIGMALIVE
