Belgian government imposes rules on influencers who advertise online – IT Pro – News

The Federal Public Service of Economy has published new guidelines for influencers. The online content creators are legally obliged to clearly indicate when they advertise.

“Content creators often have a large reach and are therefore used by brands or organizations to include advertising messages in their content. But for the average follower of a content creator, it is not always clear what the content creator’s own opinion is and what was motivated by commercial partnerships”, writes the FPS Economy.

The government service explains in the message when it considers a post as advertising. For example, a post is advertising when a product or service is in the foreground and when the influencer receives benefits from it, such as money. An explicit agreement between the influencer and the company, such as a contract, is not necessary.

To clarify that they are promoting, content creators should include a notice in their post. This must make it clear to their audience at a glance that it is advertising and must be clearly visible. Also, the notification must be in the same language as the message.

The FPS emphasizes that content creators who regularly advertise brands are considered a business and must register with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. Some details of the registration must be visible on their social media pages and websites, such as company number, company address and email address. How often an influencer has to advertise to be considered a business is not stated in the message. The government service also informs us that there is a hotline for online surreptitious advertising at the Economic Inspectorate.

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