Social media influencers in India will now be subject to new endorsement guidelines to limit unfair trade practices and misleading promotions online, according to TechCrunch.
The Department of Consumer Affairs held a press conference to announce new guidelines that will make it mandatory for social media influencers to disclose promotional content based on the Consumer Protection Act 2019.
Failing to follow the guidelines will make the influencers liable for a fine of up to $12,300, while repeated offers can be penalized up to $61,600.
According to the department, the guidelines will apply to social media influencers and virtual avatars that promote products and services online. Disclosures must be easy to notice in post descriptions where you can find hashtags r links. Moreover, they should be prominent enough to be noticeable in the content.
For promoted content in videos, the disclosures for paid promotions must be placed in the video, and the description must be in both audio and video format. They should also disclose if they promote a brand, service, or production during live streams. The department said the disclosures and endorsement should be in the language of the content.
Currently, the department is talking with tech companies to deploy some crawling algorithms to identify offenders. Also, consumers can file complaints if they find an influencer violating the guidelines.
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The Growing Social Media Influencer Market in India
Social media influencers are growing in India, and these guidelines will ensure that they will promote products responsibly. The guidelines are welcomed by the Indian advertising industry's self-regulatory body Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
They said the guidelines would help address concerns from the advertising industry. The Indian government is keenly watching the burgeoning influencer market, which has been on a steady rise in the last three years. And with these guidelines, the government is hoping it will prevent scamming and malpractices in the advertising industry.
They also hope to persuade more influencers to come under the ASCI guidelines and work towards self-regulation instead of the government imposing regulations. ASCI added that it would help the industry self-regulate against misleading advertisements and announcements from influencers and celebrities who endorse products online.
The Impact of Social Media on Advertising in India
The growing popularity of social media influencers, particularly among youth in India, has significantly affected how people shop. That means the advertising industry in India will see a marked growth in social media influencers, especially with the new guidelines. ASCI said that self-regulation with guidelines from the government would help the market to develop in a healthy way.
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