Competent authorities in Cyprus conducting inspections as part of an extensive investigation carried out by the Commission to verify whether influencers disclose their advertising activities as required by EU consumer legislation.
The investigation into influencers, conducted by the European Commission in collaboration with national authorities from 22 member states, as well as Norway and Iceland, revealed that only one in five declares their advertising activities.
Similarly, from the inspection carried out by the competent Consumer Protection Service in Cyprus, it emerged that Cypriot influencers, in the overwhelming majority, conceal the fact that the content of their posts constitutes advertising.
Specifically, as reported by the Ministry of Commerce’s Consumer Protection Service, a sample of 20 influencer accounts on social media in Cyprus was randomly inspected, and the investigation found that only one in two of them complies with the requirements of the law, according to which when a post is advertising and this is not obvious, it must be explicitly stated.
The findings of the investigation conducted in Cyprus were submitted to the Commission for examination as part of the broader investigation.
Subsequently, as we are informed, relevant information will be provided by the competent authorities in Cyprus on how publications should be made, and after a grace period is given, fines will be imposed on those who violate the law.
As Phileleftheros has been informed, according to the legislation, the fine amounts to 5% of the turnover and can reach up to 3 million euros, while the competent authorities can request information from both influencers and the companies being advertised.
Specifically, at the pan-European level, 576 influencer posts on major social media platforms were examined, and out of these, 358 influencers were referred for further investigation.
According to the results of the research, almost all (97%) of the opinion influencers posted commercial content, but only one in five consistently stated that their posts were advertisements, while 78% of influencers engaged in commercial activity, yet only 36% were registered as traders at the national level.
It was also found that 30% did not provide the company’s details in their posts, such as email address, company name, postal address, registration number, while 38% did not use platform tags, which are used to disclose commercial content, such as the “paid partnership” tag on Instagram, instead opting for different wording, such as “partnership”.
According to the data, 40% of influencers made the disclosure for advertising content visible throughout the entire commercial communication, while 34% made the disclosure immediately visible without requiring additional steps.
It is also noted that 44% of influencers have their own websites, through which the majority can sell directly.
Furthermore, it was found that 82 influencers have over 1 million followers, 301 have more than 100,000, and 73 have between 5,000 and 100,000, while many of them were active on different social media platforms: Specifically, 572 made posts on Instagram, 334 on TikTok, 224 on YouTube, 202 on Facebook, 82 on Twitter, 52 on Snapchat, and 28 on Twitch.
Fashion, lifestyle, beauty, food, travel, and fitness are their main areas of activity, while more than 100 influencers were judged to promote unhealthy or dangerous activities, such as fast food, alcoholic beverages, gambling, and financial services.
Participating in the research were: Cyprus, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden, as well as Iceland and Norway.
Related statements on the issue were made by Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, who called on influencers to demonstrate greater transparency towards their audience. He specifically stated, “With the massive growth of social media, opinion influence has become real commerce. Today, most influencers derive income from their posts. However, from our findings, it emerges that they do not always disclose this fact to their subscribers. Influencers significantly influence their subscribers, many of whom are minors. I urge them to show greater transparency towards their audience.”
