Gone are the days when the content created by influencers on different social networks was associated with an amateur activity. Over the years this sector has become more professional and there are many youtubers, tiktokers and streamers who make a living as content creators. Brands seek them out to promote their products and reach large audiences. The problem comes when some profiles share content without making it clear that it is a paid collaboration or an advertising campaign. That is why the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) wants youtubers, tiktokers and streamers to stop working in a legal vacuum and that they can be denounced when they commit irregular practices.
Today, Monday, January 31, 2022, the CNMC has opened a public consultation in order to clarify the criteria that must be taken into account to analyze the activities done by vloggers. The regulator asks the sector to position itself on the possibility of being identified as “providers of audiovisual communication services”. After all, they have become a new communication channel that many companies use to promote their products.
So you can contribute your opinion
“These new audiovisual agents or vloggers they are professionalized and their contents (short, long, live or recorded videos) enjoy a remarkable presence in the audiovisual market from the point of view of consumption and advertising investment”, justifies the CNMC.
The participatory process with a public consultation will remain open until next March 1, 2022. For its part, the CNMC invites interested parties to comment on all those aspects that seem relevant to them. The allegations will be public and must be sent through the electronic headquarters of the CNMC, indicating the Secretary of the Council as the destination body and the file number COMUNICACIÓN/DTSA/003/21.
For its part, traditional and general television channels have expressed their disagreement with the deregulation of the activity of youtubers, tiktokers and streamers, who are accused of unfair competition. They affirm that they are not governed by the same rules as the rest of the audiovisual sector. A recent example of this tug-of-war was the broadcast of the bells on Twitch by Ibai Llanos and Ramón García. Topic that generated debate regarding the audience and scope of the retransmission compared to the audiences of the main general networks.
Surely on more than one occasion you have wondered how much influencers can earn on social networks. The figures that are handled are high. Some of them have decided to move to Andorra in order to make the most of their fortunes and save taxes. In Spain there are already luxury mansions where several influencers live creating content daily for Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube or Twitch. In fact, the television program “En el punto de mira” entered the first Tik Tok mansion in Spain. Neither more nor less than 7 sets and 10 luxury rooms.
However, covert advertising in this type of audiovisual content is very common. It is easy to find how influencers with thousands of followers promote products through Instagram stories, reels or YouTube videos without indicate that it is a collaboration paid by the brand. For example, European consumer organizations have come to file massive complaints to Brussels to take action against misleading advertising and inappropriate content on networks like Tik Tok.
In Spain, the new Audiovisual Law commissions the CNMC to monitor these influencers. Until now, their activity has not been thoroughly analyzed and this has meant that covert advertising campaigns have not been penalized. A clear example of this was an operation organized by a bookmaker in which influencers pretended to have won easy money in a short time through Internet betting. An advertising campaign that was carried out without making it clear that it was paid advertising and without establishing the appropriate age limits. Therefore, the main objective of the CNMC’s public consultation is to prevent this type of situation from recurring.