1. What happened?
On 10 January 2024, following the public consultation launched in July 2023, the Communications Regulatory Authority (AGCOM) approved the Guidelines aimed at ensuring respect on the part of the influencers of the provisions of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services, published on January 16, 2024.
2. How are the defined influencers from the Guidelines
The Guidelines define the influencers as those subjects who carry out an activity similar or comparable to that of audiovisual media service providers subject to Italian jurisdiction, in the presence of all the following conditions:
- the service offered constitutes economic activity former Articles 56 and 57 TFEU;
- the main purpose of the service is the provision of content likely to generate revenue, directly or indirectly;
- theinfluencers has the editorial responsibility on the contents;
- the service is accessible to the general public and the contents are distributed via video sharing platforms or social media;
- the service allows the use of content on user request;
- the service is characterized by a stable and effective link with the Italian economy;
- The contents are offered through the use of the Italian language or are explicitly addressed to users on Italian territory.
3. The influencers professional
The provisions of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services identified by the Guidelines are immediately applicable to influencers that they carry out professional activity, that is, those which cumulatively:
- they reach one million subscribers, resulting from the sum of the members on the platforms and the social media on which they operate;
- have published in the previous year at least 24 commercial communications on the basis of agreements of any kind, in exchange for payment of money or the supply of goods or services;
- have passed at least on one platform or social media a value of engagement rate average in the last 6 months equal to or higher than 2%.
4. The obligations of the influencers professional
The Guidelines identify the general principles and various provisions of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services applicable to influencers professional and specific, among others, That The influencers and related contents:
- they must ensure respect for human dignity and do not in any way legitimize violence, hatred or discrimination;
- comply with the rules on commercial communications, telesales, sponsorships, product placement and the ban on covert advertising, recognizing the standards set out in the IAP Digital Chart, and therefore must highlight the advertising nature of the content in an immediately recognizable way;
- reflect the truthful representation of the facts and events.
5. Violation of obligations by the influencers professional
Violation of the provisions of the Guidelines entails the application of the pecuniary sanctions provided for by art. 67 of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services. The latter provides for the imposition of administrative sanction of paying a sum.
6. The influencers “amateur”
Garlic influencers non-professionals, the provisions included in the Guidelines do not apply. Only articles 41 and 42 of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services apply to content created by them.
The influencers “amateur” are defined as subjects who:
- they operate in a less continuous and structured manner;
- they don't reach a million followers;
- do not reach a significant engagement rate.
7. What to expect
The Guidelines also provide for the establishment of a technical table (to which influencer associations, platform representatives, influencer marketing agencies and in general those who act as intermediaries between influencers and companies have been invited to participate) which will deal with:
- to draft thelist of the subjects identified as influencers professional.
- adopt one or more codes of conduct, with which to define the application criteria of the provisions of the Guidelines, the technical measures, the methods of recording the influencers and the functionality for reporting violations to the Authority.
8. Possible recipients
Furthermore, AGCOM reserves the right to expand the number of recipients of the Guidelines also to:
- PR agencies;
- media centers;
- creative agencies;
- talent manager
- multichannel networks MCN.
The latter, in fact, do not fall within the subjective scope of application of the Consolidated Law on Audiovisual Media Services but operate within the scope of activities of the sector influencers.
