Social media influencers must disclose material interest on endorsements: Centre
The Hindu
The disclosures should be in simple and clear language, should be of duration that is hard to miss, must be run with endorsements, including live streams and should be platform agnostic.
The government on Friday made it mandatory for social media influencers to disclose all "material" interest such as gifts, hotel accommodation, equity, discounts and awards when endorsing any products, services or scheme, failing which strict legal action, including ban on endorsements can be taken.
The disclosures should be in simple and clear language, should be of duration that is hard to miss, must be run with endorsements, including live streams and should be platform agnostic.
The regulations are part of continuing efforts to curb misleading advertisements as well protect the interests of consumers amid the expanding social influencer market which is projected to be grow 20 per cent annually to reach ₹2,800 crore by 2025.
The new guidelines named 'Endorsement Know Hows — for celebrities, influencers and virtual media influencers (Avatar or computer generated character) on social media platforms' has been issued by the Department of Consumers Affairs.
In case of violation, the penalty prescribed for misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 will be applicable.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) can impose penalty of up to ₹10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers. For subsequent offences, penalty of up to ₹50 lakh can be imposed. The CCPA can prohibit endorser of a misleading ad from making any endorsement for up to 1 year and for subsequent contravention, prohibition can extend up to 3 years.
Launching these guidelines at a press conference, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said the guidelines have been issued under the ambit of the CCPA that provides framework for the protection of consumers against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements.
India may be able to develop its own high-end computing chipset, known as GPUs, in the next 3-5 years, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
DeepSeek has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company, say researchers.
Workday is cutting about 1,750 jobs, or 8.5% of its workforce as it focuses on AI.
Reliance Industries, ITC, and other major companies announce significant investments in West Bengal at BGBS 2025.
The Union Budget seems to have got many things right
LIC receives ₹105.42 crore GST demand notice for seven years, no material impact on operations.
Stock markets close lower as investors turn cautious ahead of RBI's monetary policy decision amid trade war concerns.
India has accused South Korea’s Kia of evading taxes of $155 million by misclassifying component imports but the carmaker has denied wrongdoing, the latest fight by a foreign automaker with New Delhi over tariffs, according to a document and two sources.
Rupee hits all-time low against dollar amid global trade war concerns, RBI rate cut expectations, and weak services sector.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal clarifies controversial hiring process, with 30 candidates selected from 18,000 applications.
Bombay High Court to hear Skoda Auto Volkswagen India's plea challenging $1.4 billion tax demand on February 17.
Gold demand in India rose 5% in 2024 to 802.8 tonnes, with 2025 consumption expected between 700-800 tonnes.
India's services sector growth slows in January, but remains above 50; new export business rebounds, job creation accelerates.