Italy to increase regulation of social media influencers

Italy will expand regulation of social media influencers by placing their activities under the same authority that oversees television and other audio-visual media.

The decision by Italy's communications authority AGCOM follows a growing scandal involving Chiara Ferragni, a leading Italian fashion blogger.

AGCOM said its oversight will apply to influencers with more than a million followers on social media, with at least 2% of them interacting with the content. 

An audio-visual media law adopted in December 2021 calls for fines of up to 600,000 euros (P37 million) for violating data protection laws, especially for minors.

AGCOM said in a statement that its measures will concern "commercial communication, and the protection of fundamental rights of people, minors and sporting values." 

In the case of product placement, "influencers are required to insert a warning about the advertising nature of the content," the statement said.

Chiara Ferragni, who has almost 30 million followers on Instagram, is under investigation after promoting a brand of pandoro cake in November 2022, suggesting that part of the sales would be donated for child cancer treatments at the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin.

Italian competition authorities discovered last month that companies held by Ferragni made more than a million euros in profit from sales of the Balocco brand pandoro but gave just 50,000 euros (P3 million) to the hospital. 

AGCOM said a group of experts would develop a "code of conduct defining the measures that influencers must respect" to bring more transparency in the sector. (AFP)