Influencer advertising: media watchdogs intervened in 773 cases in 2023
Missing or inadequate advertising labeling by influencers often called the media authorities into action. They usually left it at warnings.
Last year, the state media authorities intervened 773 times due to missing or inadequate advertising labeling for influencers in Germany.
(Bild: Shutterstock/Jacob Lund)
In 2023, the state media authorities carried out a total of 773 regulatory measures due to missing or insufficient advertising labeling for influencers in Germany. This was announced by the media watchdogs on Monday as part of their ongoing market transparency efforts based on their own quantitative survey. In most cases, the inspectors responded by sending letters to the relevant social media players. In doing so, they called on them to comply with the applicable regulations.
Christian Krebs, Coordinator of the Media Authorities' Expert Committee on Regulation, acknowledged the efforts made in the online market to comply with legal regulations. Thanks to educational measures, "a positive effect can be seen". The majority of advertising regulation cases are settled quickly. "But where profits are tempting, fines can also become noticeable," warns Krebs. Not every infringement leads to proceedings. In "stubborn individual cases", however, the initiation of further steps by the supervisory authority "also serves as a reminder to comply better with the regulations". For the credibility of editorial content, it is and remains important "to be able to recognize paid advertising messages as such".
Protecting young users
Eva Flecken, Chairwoman of the Commission for Licensing and Supervision (ZAK) and the Directors' Conference of the State Media Authorities, added that the enforcement of applicable law is particularly important for the protection of young users. The large number of advertising cases shows that, in addition to the Digital Services Act (DSA), "a strong Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) is required as the basis for regulation in the member states". This is the only way that federal, independent media supervision can continue to prove its effectiveness. The EU Commission also announced in the fall that it would work with national consumer protection authorities to examine posts on social media for misleading information, surreptitious advertising and other legal violations.
According to Section 115 of the Interstate Media Treaty, anyone who does not "clearly separate advertising from other parts of the program by optical or acoustic means or spatially appropriate to the medium" is inbreach of the law. This also applies to providers who engage in "surreptitious advertising, topic placement or similar practices" or "do not clearly indicate the existence of a sponsorship agreement". According to an amendment to the German Telemedia Act (TMG), influencers and bloggers are also required to label advertising in a post on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok & Co. if they receive a fee or similar consideration. The media authorities have published relevant guidelines on advertising labeling.
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