The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection takes on influencer advertising. He has already met with Meta, Google and TikTok

, on the initiative of the president of the office, a “round table meeting” was organized, to which representatives of three owners of large social media platforms were invited – Meta (including Facebook and Instagram), Google (YouTube) and TikTok. Four public institutions also appeared at the meeting, including: Chief Sanitary Inspectorate and the National Tax Administration and private entities.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection takes care of Polish influencers. It’s about illegal advertising

According to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, the meeting is another step towards organizing the advertising market in social media. This mainly concerns unethical or illegal advertising content that appears on the accounts and social channels of Polish influencers. The office explains that complaints about inappropriate content are constantly submitted to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and other offices.

The first problem is incorrect (e.g. unclear) marking (or lack thereof) of advertising content transmitted on the Internet, which the Office has been struggling with for a long time. The second one will be advertisements for the so-called prohibited products – including: alcohol and gambling. “Medical devices, dietary supplements, medicines, gambling or alcohol – these are examples of goods or services whose advertisements appear on influencers’ profiles. Not everyone is aware that the promotion of some of these categories is legally limited or completely prohibited,” writes the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. He adds that advertising some of them may result in criminal liability.

(…) We notice other areas that primarily concern exceeding the ban on advertising prohibited products or services, examples of which are gambling and alcohol. These problems are reported to us by the users themselves, although it is not the responsibility of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection to eliminate such cases of law violations. There would certainly be fewer advertisements for prohibited products if the platforms intensified their actions to prevent them, and also took consequences against influencers for violating the law and regulations of the platforms, including by more frequent suspension of accounts or their complete deletion.

– said Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Talks with Big Techs responsible for social media platforms are intended to help the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and relevant institutions in Poland in the fight against illegal or unethical advertising. Representatives of the two American and Chinese platforms unanimously admitted that although “content posted on their servers must comply with internal policies and remain within the limits of national law”, the problem of illegal advertising still exists. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection emphasizes that all three companies declared “open cooperation with offices and the industry.”