The Blog Lawyer

Updated FTC Brand-Influencer Guidelines

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Calling all influencers!

I recently had a conversation with one of my clients about the FTC guidelines that were updated in 2024. While the new guidance has been out for a while, it seems like there is still some confusion so I wanted to provide an update from my perspective.

If you’re trying to put deals in place with brands, or if you have deals in place, you should understand the rules regarding transparency, clarity, and compliance. This is important because your failure to comply with the guidelines will be imputed to your client. Not a good plan for building your business.

1. Enhanced Enforcement on Fake Reviews

Under the FTC influencer marketing guidelines, complete transparency is required for all creator partnerships. This general rule has been in existence for many years and the updates focus on additional prohibitions such as:

  • Providing compensation based on whether the review contains positive or negative sentiment;
  • Paying for reviews of any kind, from any source; and
  • Offering other incentives that might be viewed as requiring a specific type of feedback.

2. Clear Guidelines on Compensation

The FTC guidelines have upped the ante regarding transparency in relationships. Brands must provide:

  • Clear disclosure of any significant connection between a company and a reviewer;
  • Proper identification of reviews from company officers, managers, or employees; and
  • Transparency when a review come from immediate relatives of company personnel.

3. Platform Control and Review Management

Additional boundaries in certain areas must be in place:

  • Must disclose that a platform is company-controlled and not an independent source;
  • Cannot artificially suppress or delete negative reviews; and
  • Provide additional transparency for the review collection and display processes.

4. So, What Does It Mean?

Nobody wants to meet with the FTC to discuss non-compliance. It’s especially problematic if your brand partner gets fined or sanctioned by the FTC because you didn’t know the rules. Let’s avoid all of that and focus on what you should do right now:

  • Review the updated FTC guidelines;
  • Check your existing brand contracts to ensure that you are compliant; and
  • Ensure that your marketing activities, particularly your process for generating, posting, and managing reviews follows the updated guidelines.

Disclaimer – Yes, I’m a lawyer, but I’m not your lawyer. All information in this post is provided for educational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice for any specific person or specific situation.

Remember – Be Smart. Be Legal.

Attack of the ADA Trolls!

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WHAT’S UP WITH THE ADA?

Many influencers and content publishers, particularly in the DIY video space and lifestyle bloggers, are being threatened with expensive lawsuits over the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). I’ve been contacted recently by a number of clients who are increasingly concerned about their potential liability.

In this post, I’ll provide some basic information about the current trends in ADA compliance for websites that may help you understand what’s going on and how you can prevent or minimize the potential damage if you become a target. This is a bit longer than most of my posts and the information is rapidly changing so stay tuned for updates.

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Cover Your Assets

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I’ve received some questions from a number of influencers over the past few weeks on the subject of insurance coverage.  In addition, there have been some discussions in some Facebook groups where this topic is getting some interest. It seems like there’s an emerging trend in many influencer contracts where the brand/sponsor requires some level of liability insurance coverage in the contract.

The reason why having appropriate insurance coverage is so important is that you’ve worked hard to build a valuable business. You don’t want a misstep or mistake to strip the value out of your business. Additionally, since many contracts may now require insurance coverage, it’s a good idea to keep up with the changes. Given that many people don’t really understand or speak the language of insurance, this can get pretty confusing pretty fast. Although this post is a bit long and has a lot of “legal” like stuff going on, it will help you get up to speed on what kinds of insurance coverage you may want or need.

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GDPR – Oh Yes, There’s More……….

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My last blog post provided an overview of the new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) rules for the protection of personal data when capturing, storing, or processing personal data originating from individuals in the European Union (“EU”).

If you missed that post, you can read it by clicking here.

In addition to the GDPR, it’s also important for U.S. businesses to be aware of the EU Privacy Shield requirements. The GDPR is a comprehensive law designed to control the transfer and use of personally identifiable information in general. The Privacy Shield is concerned with only one specific aspect of data protection; namely the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S.

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GDPR is Coming……………Are You Ready?

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What the Heck is GDPR and Why Should I Care?

If you’re a blogger, chances are pretty good that you’ve heard about the “GDPR” at some point in the last few weeks/months. The chances are also pretty good that you don’t really know what it means, don’t know how or if it applies to you, or what to do about it. It can be very confusing and many bloggers are feeling a bit overwhelmed. However, not knowing about the GDPR is no longer a viable option moving forward because it’s about to take effect and what you don’t know can definitely hurt you.

Have no fear (o.k., maybe a little fear but we’ll work on it) and hang on for the ride. This is the first in a series of posts on the GDPR that will help you get up to speed.

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