Should Influencers Be Regulated and Held Accountable For The Products That They Promote?

Here in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates advertising by applying Ad Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP). The ASA respond to concerns and complaints from consumers and businesses and take action to ban ads which are misleading, harmful, offensive or irresponsible.

With this in mind, should influences be regulated on what they are allowed to promote on social media and should they be held accountable if the products that they promote do not live up to the expectations of their ‘influencees’?

Here is the thing. Being an influencer is easy money. You do not need a degree, nor do you need any actual experience in any particular field. There are YouTubers and other social media ‘stars’ out there that do not have any real qualifications or skills. There is absolutely nothing in place to stop someone claiming on YouTube that they are an expert in a particular field. I could set up an account right now and claim that I have a PhD in marketing and start to tell people how to market their content online. I would not have to be accountable to anyone, apart from my own conscience. With this in mind, there are millions of accounts on social media, that claim to be experts in particular fields that are promoting products.

What is even more concerning is that influencers are able to reach audiences under 18. In a time where unemployment is at the highest rate in…