Centre holds meeting with influencers to discuss latest social media guidelines

The dialogue focused on fostering a transparent and responsible influencer marketing industry, ensuring consumer protection while empowering creators.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, organised a roundtable discussion with influencers, content creators, and their agencies on the recently released guidelines for influencer marketing on social media platforms

The meeting was chaired by Rohit Kumar Singh, who is the secretary, department of consumer affairs, Govt of India. The emphasis of the discussion was laid upon the importance of education for influencers and creators, regarding laws and regulations of marketing. 

The secretary assured the members of the meeting that the state does not intend to stifle creativity and the industry, but only wants to protect consumer interests without hindering the business.  To do so, Singh suggested the formation of a self-regulatory organisations for influencer marketing. 

Singh also explored partnerships with the industry, and influencer marketing companies to develop resources, such as the guidelines and FAQs, to help influencers and creators better understand and comply with the guidelines. 

The roundtable also saw Anupam Mishra, joint secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, give a detailed presentation on the recently released guidelines, and their implementation. The idea was to identify areas for improvement through feedback, and make necessary amendments.

Manisha Kapoor, CEO, ASCI, called for digital platforms to take responsibility for advertising and the structuring of influencers. She also proposed the development of a model draft agreement between influencers and brands and urged platforms to work in compliance with guidelines for misleading ads. 

The guidelines, released in response to the rapidly growing digital world, require that endorsements be made in simple, clear language, using terms such as "advertisement," "sponsored," "collaboration," or "paid promotion." Individuals must not endorse any product or service that they have not personally used or experienced or in which due diligence has not been done by them. Disclosures must be placed in the endorsement message in a clear, prominent, and hard-to-miss manner.

The round table was attended by Influencers, namely, Aanchal Agrawal, Prasad Ved Pathak, Rakesh Tiwari and Kushagra Tayal. It was also attended by Mr Gurpreet Singh, One Digital Entertainment, Dhruv Chitgropekar, Big Bang Social, Jalak Raval, Taag One, Ritesh Ujjwal, Confluence, Ajay Kulkarni, Barcode Entertainment, Suneil Chawla, Influencer.in, Viraj Seth, Monk Entertainment, Kevin Lee, Yuvaa and Shweta Purandare, AdExpert.