Product promos: Govt makes it mandatory for social media influencers to disclose material interest
New Delhi (PTI): The government on Friday made it mandatory for social media influencers to disclose their "material" interest in endorsing products and services and violations can attract strict legal action, including ban on endorsements.
The regulations are part of continuing efforts to curb misleading advertisements as well protect the interests of consumers amid the expanding social influencer market which is projected to be worth around Rs 2,800 crore by 2025.
The new guidelines named 'Endorsement Know Hows -- for celebrities, influencers and virtual media influencers (Avatar or computer generated character) on social media platforms' has been issued by the Department of Consumers Affairs.
In case of violation, the penalty prescribed for misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 will be applicable.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) can impose penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers. For subsequent offences, penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh can be imposed. The authority can prohibit endorser of a misleading ad from making any endorsement for up to 1 year and for subsequent contravention, prohibition can extend up to 3 years.
Launching these guidelines at a press conference, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said the guidelines have been issued under the ambit of the consumer law that provides framework for the protection of consumers against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements.
He hoped that the guidelines would act as a deterrent for social media influencers.
"It's a very important subject. The size of social influencer market in India in 2022 was of the order of Rs 1,275 crore and by 2025, it is likely to rise to Rs 2,800 crore with a compound annual growth rate of about 19-20 per cent. The social media influencer of substance, those having good number of followers, are in excess of 1 lakh in the country," Singh said.
Stating that the social media influencing is here to stay and will only grow exponentially, he said social influencers need to behave responsibly.
"The today's guidelines are aimed at social media influencers which have material connection with the brand they want to promote on various social media platforms. This is an obligation for them to behave responsibly as far as the disclosure is concerned to the consumers.
"One of the biggest paradigm of the consumer law is the consumers right to know and this falls in that purview. Consumers should know if something is thrown at him from digital media, the person or the entity which is sponsoring it have they taken money or any form of connection they have with the brand," Singh said.
The secretary said if non-compliance takes place, there are provisions under the law for people to approach the authority to seek legal action against people who are defaulting.
"These guidelines broadly define that framework as to how social media influencers should indulge in disclosure of their relationship with the brand," the secretary said.
CCPA Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare noted that misleading Advertisements in any form, format or medium is prohibited by law.
The new guidelines have specified who all need to disclose, when to disclose and how to disclose.
Individuals/groups who have access to an audience and the power to affect their audiences' purchasing decisions or opinions about a product, service, brand or experience, because of the influencer's/celebrity's authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience will have to disclose the material connection, as per the new norm.
The disclosure should happen "when there is a material connection between an advertiser and celebrity/influencer that may affect the weight or credibility of the representation made by the celebrity/influencer", Khare said.
She said the disclosure should be in such a manner that it is "hard to miss" and should be in simple language.
The disclosures should be placed in the endorsement message in such a manner that they are clear, prominent and extremely hard to miss. Disclosures should not be mixed with a group of hashtags or links.
In endorsement in a picture, disclosures should be superimposed over the image enough for viewers to notice. In video, disclosures should be placed in the video and not just in the description and they should be made in both audio and video format.
In the case of live stream, disclosures should be displayed continuously and prominently during the entire stream.
On limited space platforms like Twitter, terms such as 'XYZAmbassador' (where XYZ is a brand) are also acceptable, she said.
The secretary said that these guidelines are being issued under the overall ambit of Consumer Protection Act and one of the main underlining principle of the law is prevention of unfair trade practice.
"There are many ways in which unfair trading practices take place, one of the important unfair trading practice is the menace of misleading advertisements, by trying to sell something which is not exactly as it is being portrayed in the ad.
"While it has been ably handled in the conventional media -- which is TV, print and radio, the social and digital media platforms are turning out to be different ball game," Singh said.
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Polling underway for 5 RS seats in Bihar
Patna (PTI): Voting is underway for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar on Monday, with five nominees from the ruling NDA and one from the opposition RJD contesting the biennial polls, an official said.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin, also the five-time MLA from Bankipur assembly seat, RJD's national working president Tejashwi Yadav, BJP MLA Maithili Thakur, and jailed JD(U) legislator Anant Singh, among others, cast their ballots.
The polling, which commenced at 9 am, will continue till 5 pm in the Bihar Assembly complex, where MLAs are casting their ballots, he said.
Counting will begin after 5 pm, and the results are expected to be declared the same day.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and Nabin are among the NDA candidates. The other three nominees from the ruling coalition are Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha, both sitting members of the Rajya Sabha, and BJP's Shivesh Kumar, who is seeking a berth in the Upper House of Parliament for the first time.
Yadav, after casting his vote, said, "Our candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh will win as we have got support from the five MLAs of AIMIM and one BSP legislator."
Talking to reporters on Monday, JD(U)'s national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said, "NDA's all five candidates will win. We don't care what opposition parties are claiming."
The AIMIM announced on Sunday that all five of its MLAs would support the RJD candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote, Singh said, "If Nitish Kumar does not remain the CM, I will not contest polls next time. My children will contest elections."
Singh, the Mokama MLA, was arrested ahead of the assembly polls last year in connection with the killing of Dular Chand Yadav, a rival gangster who was supporting the local candidate of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party.
Singh, who has since been unable to secure bail, was allowed to cast his vote on parole.
With numbers comfortably in favour of the NDA for four seats and marginally short for the fifth, the opposition forced an election by fielding the RJD's candidate.
The state administration has made adequate security arrangements to ensure a smooth election, an official said.
The NDA aims to win all five seats but needs support from three legislators from the opposition bench to achieve that.
The Grand Alliance kept its MLAs at a hotel in the state capital to prevent alleged poaching by rivals.
However, the NDA organised meetings with its legislators at the residences of ministers and senior leaders in the state's capital on Sunday.
The NDA enjoys a brute majority in the assembly, though its tally of 202 in the 243-member House falls three short of the number needed to secure all five Rajya Sabha seats.
To win a Rajya Sabha berth, one needs the support of at least 41 MLAs in the Bihar assembly.
