UK MPs launch inquiry into anti-sunscreen influencers spreading health risks

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1. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14722893/MPs-online-personalities-anti-suncream-misinformation-TikTok.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 - Please view link - unable to able to access data
2. https://www.ft.com/content/664b0879-c019-4401-b22a-0e6c76d57d06 - The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to social media influencers, commonly referred to as 'finfluencers,' about adhering to advertising rules when promoting financial products and services. Failure to comply could lead to criminal prosecution, including up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine. The rules are part of the consumer duty regulations introduced last year, aimed at ensuring that financial promotions are accurate and allow consumers to make informed decisions. The FCA emphasized that firms are responsible for ensuring their promotions meet regulatory standards and that influencers communicate appropriately with their followers. The regulator has increased its scrutiny of financial promotions, removing 10,000 misleading adverts last year. The FCA is particularly concerned about the growing influence of social media on financial decisions, with a significant proportion of young adults trusting finfluencers' advice. The consumer duty also encompasses various financial products, including savings rates offered by banks and high charges by financial advice firms. The FCA will begin to name firms under investigation more frequently to enhance market deterrence.
3. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-financial-watchdog-warns-social-media-influencers-2024-03-26/ - Britain's financial watchdog set out guidelines on Tuesday to stop misleading adverts on social media, and warned 'influencers' that promoting a financial product without regulatory approval could be a criminal office. The Financial Conduct Authority set out how adverts must be fair, clear and not misleading by including risk warnings as social media becomes a central ... . Influencers or people paid to promote ... in a statement. 'Consumers need to be alert to ... ,' the Financial Conduct Authority said in ... . It also warned financial firms, saying ... . 'Firms need to consider whether ... ,' the FCA said. Scrutiny of financial promotions has been ... .
4. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/11/07/rule-breaking-influencers-will-be-named-and-shamed-if-they-do-not-comply-with-guidelines-asai-warns/ - Influencers who persistently breach guidelines on commercial content will be named and shamed and could face fines, the advertising watchdog has warned. The Advertising Standards Authority has written to 150 influencers who have consistently been in breach of guidelines introduced a year ago in relation to commercial content. The authority has had thousands of complaints from the public with 75 per cent being the absence of a label or hashtag stating that the content is commercial. Some 98 per cent of posts complained about are on Instagram. Clothing, food and drink and skincare were the categories that attracted the most complaints. Speaking at a webinar on social media influencers, ASA chief executive Orla Twomey said the guidelines are not complicated and involve using the hashtag #ad and also include, in some cases, #af (affiliated with a product) or #gifted if showcasing commercial content. It must also be included at the beginning of every post and it must be clearly visible. She said the ASA will name persistent offenders with a view to hurting both the reputation of the influencer and the products they are advertising. Given the profiles of many influencers, she anticipated a lot of media attention for transgressors. 'We will show audiences that these are the influencers who are not being honest with you when they are advertising products. It isn’t rocket science,' she said. 'It’s your reputation that is on the line if you are honest and transparent. Audiences are very clear themselves. They know when there is something a bit off.'
5. https://www.marketingweek.com/asa-sanctions-influencers/ - The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is taking out Instagram ads exposing six rule-breaking influencers who have consistently failed to disclose ads on their own accounts, despite explicit warnings. The regulatory body’s rules state that any advertising on social media must be clearly signposted and labelled as such to protect consumers. This can be achieved with a label such as ‘#ad’ within the image or caption. In June 2021, the ASA set up a webpage naming and shaming influencers who were failing to abide by the rules. Francesca Allen, Jess Gale, Eve Gale, Belle Hassan, Jodie Marsh and Anna Vakili were among those influencers added to the site. As all six have failed the improve disclosure of their ads, the ASA is now escalating its sanctions against them. The ASA’s ads read: '[Name] has been sanctioned by the UK’s ad regulator for not declaring ads on this platform. Be aware that products and services recommended or featured by this influencer may have been paid for by those brands. Our non-compliant social media influencer page at asa.org.uk is regularly updated to inform consumers of those who break these rules.' Further sanctions are also being considered, including working with social media platforms to have the content of non-compliant influencers removed, or referring influencers to statutory bodies such as Trading Standards for consideration of statutory action, including possible fines. 'For the minority of influencers that repeatedly fail to disclose their paid-for posts, it’s important their social media followers are told,' explains the ASA’s director of advertising policy and practice, Shahriar Coupal. 'In a new front of enforcement activity, we’re using targeted ads to highlight the breaches of six social media personalities to the very same audience they’re seeking to influence. When we see the necessary changes to their disclosure practices, we’ll call off the ads. But, where non-compliance persists, we’ll look to more direct forms of enforcement.'
6. https://www.asa.org.uk/news/rebalancing-toward-proactive-ad-regulation-for-the-digital-era.html - Our Annual Report 2021, published today, highlights the innovative and world-leading ways in which we have harnessed technology, in line with our strategy, to tackle misleading and irresponsible ads online. Coinciding with the report, we are today also announcing how our use of artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising and enhancing our monitoring capabilities to help identify and take enforcement action against influencers who fail to disclose when their posts are ads. The Report also includes: For the first time, a breakdown of complaints by nation, providing us with a clearer picture of national differences alongside the overall complaint totals. The key themes and issues – from environmental claims, body image, harmful racial and ethnic stereotypes and cryptoasset advertising, to age-restricted ads seen by children – that we’re shining a regulatory spotlight on to ensure the public is protected. Details of our Intermediary and Platform Principles Pilot, a world first involving some of the largest companies in the digital advertising supply chain, that extends the ASA’s role online and aims to improve transparency and widen accountability in online advertising. Facts and figures including the record number of complaints we received last year, the ad campaigns complained about and the media in which they appeared.