According to the Federal Trade Commission, some influencers and social media would manipulate reviews
There Federal Trade Commission recently decided to start investigating the reviews made by some influencers, in order to avoid those false and manipulated can be viewed by the public and therefore create opinions that do not reflect the truth.
This is certainly not the first time that the US federal agency has intervened on this issue. In 2019, in fact, the federal body had developed a booklet precisely to intervene on the issue, called Disclosures 101 for Social Media influencers. The booklet contains some rules and general information for streamers and influencers regarding promotional and commercial relationships with various companies.
The Federal Trade Commission aims to intervene on the issue of covert advertising
There Disclosures 101 for Social Media influencers it seems that it will have to be even more stringent about reviews from streamers and influencers. There Federal Trade Commission in fact, it intends to prevent the reviews from being manipulated in the event of a partnership between companies and streamers and / or influencers.
The guidelines were in fact elaborated in the distant past 2009, a time when social media and influencers weren’t so present in the gaming industry. Surely, a rejuvenation of these guidelines could benefit the cause and pay off less permissive the rules governing the relationships between streamers and companies.
There Federal Trade Commission has therefore decided to propose new rules to be introduced in the Disclosures 101 for Social Media influencers that “reflect the importance attributed to social media and product reviews through these by manufacturers”. These rules will also apply to platforms on which influencers actwith the intention of avoiding any kind of hidden advertising, especially towards children.
We remember, in fact, that the influencers, nowadays, are very influential personalities and that they can become a real promotional medium (and well paid) that businesses can use to their advantage. And it is therefore necessary to have an eye on the most influential categories such as children or adolescents.