AA Comment on Influencer Culture

On Monday, the Commons DCMS Select Committee published a report following its inquiry into influencer culture which looks at the impact that social media influencers are having on UK culture, and how the industry operates. The committee also investigated key regulatory gaps exposed by the industry’s rapid growth, especially around influencer marketing. You can find a copy of the AA’s response here.

The Committee’s recommendations include:

• Extending the remit of the CAP code to remove the requirement for editorial ‘control’ to determine whether content constitutes an advertisement
• Recommending that the ASA conducts yearly monitoring exercises to better understand how compliance rates change over time and in response to policy and technological developments
• recommend that the ASA be given statutory powers to enforce the CAP Code.
• Developing a code of conduct for influencer marketing alongside relevant stakeholders
• Supporting the Government’s intention to address this deficit in their Online Media Literacy Strategy and recommend that it ensures Ofcom also lives up to its responsibilities in the delivery of this objective

We support the focus by CAP and the ASA to publicise the need for disclosure by influencers when they are promoting brands’ products and services.

ISBA has recently updated its Influencer Code of Conduct which gives guidance to brands on their relationship with influencers, focuses on the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation as well as flagging the importance of adhering to the advertising rules.

We also acknowledge the importance of protecting children through more digital literacy to help them understand when influencers are promoting commercial messages.

There is an important role here for Media Smart, which develops online media literacy resources about advertising. Media Smart is on the DCMS Panel on Online Media Literacy Strategy. It has recently published some new resources for teachers on the role of influencers.

On June 7, Media Smart will be holding a meeting with the Media Literacy APPG to discuss its resources on influencers and the industry’s reactions to the committee’s report. For more information, please contact Noa Cohen.