Up to 600 thousand euros fine, Italy with strict rules for bloggers after the Ferragni scandal
Chiara Ferragni is embroiled in a scandal in which she is accused of misleading people about a charity that was to be made from the sale of pandoro sweets last year.
The scandal has reached global proportions and after that the Italian regulator tightens the rules for influencers after the Ferragni scandal
Italy’s communications authority AGCOM has adopted strict new rules to improve transparency on social media posts made by celebrities with massive online audiences.
The rules will initially apply to those influencers who post in Italian and work with Italian brands who have more than 1 million followers, AGCOM said in a statement late Wednesday.
Any advertising content posted will have to be clearly labeled as such in order to be recognised, otherwise social media stars risk fines of up to €600,000.
Because of their massive reach, online influencers can often wield more power than traditional advertising in driving product sales and increasing brand exposure.
The Italian authority added that influencers will be required to respect the code of conduct that applies to all media, which requires impartial communication, avoiding fake news and discriminatory or racist posts.
AGCOM has been working on the new rules for more than a year and did not specifically target Ferragni, head Giacomo Lasorella told the daily la Repubblica in an interview published on Thursday.
👁️[WPPV-TOTAL-VIEWS]
