Instagram has announced plans to crack down on 'hidden advertising' from social media influencers following investigations by the CMA
In today's world, social media influencers often have significant sway over our buying habits. Influencers frequently insert paid promotions into their social media posts, videos, and livestreams, but both UK and US law require that any paid advertising is explicitly declared.
A recent investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been taking place following concerns that influencers are not declaring paid promotion. Facebook, which owns Instagram, has been accused of not doing enough to prevent influencers from promoting products and services without showing it.
To help combat the issue, Instagram will now be adding a new popup on the post screen that will ask users to confirm whether the post contains incentivised promotion of a product or service. In cases where the user fails to declare the promotion, this will provide proof that the user explicitly said they weren't incentivised to post it.
All users will now be able to voluntarily label their posts that include paid promotion, and a new tool will be created to allow businesses to easily see posts promoting their products. Instagram has also promised to develop new technology to detect posts containing undeclared advertising.
Source: Yahoo Finance
