The move follows ASAI research that suggests most consumers have lost trust in social media influencers, with more than half trusting branded ads more than influencer posts.
The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) plans to use AI to crack down on social media posts that mislead consumers.
The regulator said this technology will assess the activity of social media influencers to assess whether they are properly disclosing content.
The goal is to ensure that social media content is authentic and does not violate the organization’s rules, e.g. B. That a sponsored post is not marked as an advertisement.
The decision comes as a new ASAI study suggests that most consumers have lost trust in influencers, with more than half of consumers trusting branded advertising more than influencer social media posts.
More than half of ASAI respondents are concerned about the lack of transparency in influencer marketing. Some of the top most “annoying” influencer traits listed by consumers are edited photos and inauthentic impression.
Just 10 percent of consumers said they trust influencer posts, while more than 62 percent said influencers post too much sponsored content.
ASAI CEO Orla Twomey said the results echo a report released last December by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
“Both the ASAI research and the CCPC report show that there is a need for more transparency from influencers on how to clearly and correctly label their sponsored content, as well as more guidance and education for both consumers and influencers in this area,” Twomey said
“To support this, we plan to further implement the use of AI tools and work with the CCPC to develop further guidance.”
The CCPC report also warned that consumers may be overconfident in their ability to spot influencer marketing posts and “they may be more vulnerable to misleading marketing than they think.”
CCPC member Kevin O’Brien said platforms and brands must “take greater responsibility for educating and informing their users” and support influencers to clearly label paid content so “consumers are not misled”.
“We look forward to working with ASAI to develop guidance that will support influencers, brands and consumers in this regard,” said O’Brien.
Concerns about influencers improperly sharing sponsored content have increased among certain regulatory bodies in recent years.
Last October, Kim Kardashian was fined $1.26 million in the US for promoting a cryptocurrency on Instagram without revealing that she had been paid to do so.
US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said the case served as a “reminder to celebrities and others that they are legally required to disclose to the public when and how much they are being paid to encourage investment in securities.” .
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