In the age of social media platforms and digital content, major roles are being played by social media influencers.
A social media influencer is a user who has established credibility in a specific industry, has access to a huge audience and can persuade others to act based on their recommendations.
Now, under new guidelines issued by the government, such social media influencers and digital advertisers will have to take more credibility in endorsing products, more than they ever needed to.
We will explain everything in detail further in this article but you must know that, now litigation and getting sued will be operable on the heads of such social influencers too.
Social Media Influencers to be Held Responsible Too
Influencer marketing has become a big space under the advertising market, contributing about 10-15% in India’s Rs 21,000 crore space.
It is burgeoning exponentially with brands from almost every sector, spending over Rs 10 crore every year on such influencers.
Oftentimes, influencers do not indulge into research of the product they are endorsing and promote it only on the brief given by the brand.
So if a brand got litigated or sued by anyone, based upon false claims or inaccuracy, these influencers who promoted the brand were left untouched because they merely advertised the product.
However now, according to new guidelines issued by the GOI, the influencers too will get litigated, shall they endorse any brand promoting misleading advertisements.
The government has sought feedback on the guidelines before September 18.
These guidelines to Ensure Veracity
Taking such an action, the brands and their advertisers will now have to take more responsibility for their claims, ensuring and strengthening veracity of their products.
According to legal experts, this will increase litigation on such social media influencers.
Gaurav Dani from Indus Law says,
“The guidelines will certainly be applicable to them (social media influencers) and they will have to be more informed about whatever they are endorsing. What I do see happening is that you might have a lot of litigation where a lot of people get sued”.
How will this Law Affect Influencers?
As mentioned earlier, industries like tech, personal care and food brands spend about Rs 5-10 crores on influencer marketing every year.
If this guideline is successfully passed, the brunt of legal action and sues will directly fall on the influencer (endorser) too.
This means such influencers can be expected to be really selective about the brands and products they endorse.
They will also have to conduct a thorough research on the same.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.