The Social media influencers and also the digital marketers could face a bumpy ride in order to abide with the veracity of claims made in advertisements that could fall upon them real soon. Moreover, the government’s draft guidelines has also targeted at preventing the misleading advertisements that has an entire section on due diligence that needs to be made by the endorsers. However, it has sought feedback on the guidelines before September 18, 2020.
The guidelines will be further applicable to manufacturers or service providers, the advertising agencies and endorsers, covering all advertising or marketing communications, regardless of the form, format or the medium. Moreover, the proposed rules can also increase the litigation on the endorsers, including the social media influencers, and raise their compliance burden, however, they could streamline what is an otherwise highly unorganised and a fast-growing sector.
“The guidelines will certainly be applicable to the influencers and they will have to be more informed about whatever they are endorsing. The guidelines say obtaining advice from an advertising self-regulatory organisation or any legal opinion from a legal practitioner about the accuracy of endorsements can be considered as sufficient due diligence.”
Source: Economic Times
