LONDON – Facebook’s Instagram has agreed measures to crack down on hidden advertising by so-called influencers on its photo and video platform, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday.
Influencers with thousands of followers can earn large fees from companies to promotes a product on Instagram.
In what the CMA described as an important behavior shift by a major social media platform, Facebook Ireland, which operates Insragram in Britain, has committed to a package of changes.
‘This will make it much harder for people to post an advert on Instagram without labeling it as such’, the CMA said in a statement.
Facebook said the company was pleased to be working with the CMA on its continued efforts to increase transparency on when people are paid to post content on Instagram.
‘We are also proud to be launching a program with MediaSmart to help educate young people about branded contend and how to identify it’, Facebook added.
The CMA said it has been investing concerns that too many influencers are posting content about business without making it clear that have been paid or received other incentives to do so.
Influencers will have to confirm and disclose if they have received any incentives to promote a product or service.
Instagram will also use technology to spot when users might not have disclosed clearly that a post is an advertisement, the CMA said.
Last year 16 celebrities pledged to clean up their act on social media after CMA action, the watchdog added.
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