Search results : 1513

The board of the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) has agreed, unanimously, to fine Meta Platforms (Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) EUR 750,000 for the infringement of the gambling advertising prohibition introduced by the "Dignity decree". This is the first fine given by AGCOM to a social media platform (last August, AGCOM adopted its first sanction against the video sharing platform "YouTube", see Iris 2022-8/4). The Authority considered that Meta had conducted a clear infringement of the Italian Law prohibiting the diffusion of advertising...

On 22 November 2022, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Media Regulator — VRM) issued, for the first time, warnings to influencers for violating the rules on commercial communication under the Flemish Media Decree (Article 53). With the transposition, in 2021, of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive into the Flemish Media Decree, channels and profiles on platform services such as YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok can be considered audiovisual media services or broadcasting services (as per Article 2, 26° of the Flemish Media Decree). This means that content creators,...

In December 2022, Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, published research into what viewers think and how they feel about commercial references in and around TV programmes. This is the first time in over 15 years that the regulator has carried out extensive research in this area. The findings are intended to inform its current guidance to the rules on content regulation. What is a commercial reference? All broadcast TV content comprises programming and advertising. In addition to income from adverts in commercial breaks, broadcasters generate revenue from references to products,...

Two weeks before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Spanish Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (National Markets and Competition Commission — CNMC) has adopted provisional measures on the contracting of advertising for the coverage of the tournament in Spain. Until the body adopts a final resolution, the provisional measures establish that the public service broadcaster RTVE will not be able to include advertising during World Cup broadcasts with advertisers other than FIFA’s sponsors. Regarding the broadcasting rights, RTVE reached an agreement...

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in Poland (UOKiK) has recently released the long-awaited "Recommendations of the President of UOKiK concerning the tagging, by influencers, of advertising content on social media". The proper tagging of sponsored content on social media has raised quite a lot of questions. So far, the most difficult issues have been drawing the line between the subjective opinions of social media users and paid communications, as well as the transparent forms of tagging commercial collaborations. In order to develop clear guidelines for the...