Law, awareness needed to keep influencers under check

To regulate and control the social media influencers who promote products on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, advocates who deal with advertisement related cases want more legal frameworks, regulations and awareness from the central and state governments.

Advocate R Ramalingam of the Madras High Court, who had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against online rummy games before the HC, said there are no specific laws available to regulate the online influencers.

However, action can be taken under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 against a celebrity or a social media influencer promoting a poor product on social media, according to the lawyer.

“The Act was passed to control the misleading advertisements and endorsements by celebrities and social media influencers. As per the Act, an influencer should reveal that it is a paid promotion. If he intentionally provides wrong facts about the product to make money and the product goes wrong, his followers could sue the influencer for that misleading advertisement seeking damages from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh,” the advocate told DT Next.

Ramalingam further said there is a lack of awareness among people on issues related to digital platforms. “Digital platforms which violate and illegally consumes public wealth and life by taking advantage of the absence of regulatory framework. Various judgments by High Courts and Apex court also highlighted the absence of any regulatory mechanisms. The Centre should act vigilant and pass a law to control online influencers too,” he noted.

Swarnam Rajagopal, senior counsel, Madras HC, also made it clear that there is no straight law to deal with online influencers. “Even in the case of offline advertisements, we have several judgments saying the nature of the product will not bind the celebrities who promote it on media. If an influencer is knowingly promoting a poor product, an action shall be initiated under the Consumer Production Act,” he added.

S Manoj Selvaraj, a Supreme Court advocate, said apart from the Consumer Protection Act, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a voluntary body formed in 1985 with advertisers, advertising agencies, media (including broadcasters and the Press), PR Agencies and Market Research companies have also passed several guidelines for social media influencers to follow in June 2021.

“As per the ASCI guidelines, the influencers must use the product and review it properly before promoting them online. Also, if promotional content is a video the disclosure message should be shown to their audience,” Manoj added.

He further highlighted a judgment of Mumbai HC in Marico Ltd vs Abhijeet Bhansali which has explained the duties and obligations of the social media influencers. “The Mumbai HC made it clear that such individuals only knew too well that they wielded significant influence over their audience, and that their statements have a magnified and profound impact. The social media influencers could not make statements with the same freedom available for the public,” he noted.