Italian Communication Authority Approves Strict Rules For Celebrity Social Media Post Transparency

JAKARTA - AGCOM, Italy's communications authority, has approved new strict rules to increase transparency on social media posts made by celebrities with mass online audiences.

The decision comes after top influencer Chiara Ferragni - with nearly 30 million followers on Instagram - was fined more than 1 million euros by an Italian antitrust agent for lack of clarity on Christmas charity initiatives.

According to AGCOM in a statement on Wednesday evening, January 10, this rule will initially be applied to influencers who post in Italian and work with Italian brands that have more than 1 million followers.

Every ad content posted must be clearly labeled as an advertisement so that it can be recognized, otherwise the social media stars are at risk of being fined up to 600,000 euros (Rp10.2 billion).

Due to their wide reach, online influencers often have more influence than traditional advertising in increasing product sales and increasing brand exposure.

France has introduced a law last year to ban the promotion of products such as tobacco by influencers and ensure more transparency on paid content.

Italian authorities added that influencers will be required to respect the code of ethics applied to all media, requiring impartial communication, avoiding fake news, and discriminatory or racial posts.

"AGCOM has been working on this new rule for more than a year and is not specifically targeting Ferragni," AGCOM chief Giacomo Lasorella said in an interview published by the daily la Repubblica on Thursday, January 11.

He said that at the moment his attention would be on "big fish," but he hoped influencers with smaller followers would also "follow a good path."