Recommendation 97

HM Government Acknowledged

11. The CMA has been investigating the role that platforms play in social media endorsements.6 As a result of this investigation, in October 2020, Facebook provided undertakings relating to its Instagram platform to tackle this issue.7 12. The undertakings included: • making available to all users (subject to reasonable exemptions) a Branded Content Tool which enables creators to disclose when a commercial relationship exists between a creator and a brand; • prompting influencers to confirm before posting if they have been ‘paid’8 for the post; • implementing technology designed to help identify posts containing adverts that have not been clearly and prominently disclosed as adverts;9 • enabling businesses to detect posts which promote their products so that they can check proper disclosures have been made;10 and • revising and making clearer its policies governing the publication of incentivised endorsements.11 13. The CMA continues to work closely with Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (formerly known as Facebook Ireland Limited) to oversee its adherence with the undertakings provided and we are satisfied that it is making appropriate progress. The undertakings were to be implemented in various stages and by the end of June 2021. However, as some measures required the development and testing of new functionality, additional time has been agreed and full implementation is expected by the end of 2022. 14. The CMA publishes an overall impact assessment for the CMA which is laid before Parliament together with the CMA Annual Report. We report regularly across the CMA’s enforcement portfolio about direct financial impact that flows from our work, and this is subject to external QA. 15. The CMA announced on its case page that it would continue investigating the practices of other social media platforms to ensure that comparable changes are made where necessary. 16. The CMA has looked at a variety of social media platforms in the UK and is developing some key compliance principles (the ‘Principles’) which the CMA considers will help social media platforms comply with consumer protection law in relation to influencer endorsements. The CMA has shared the draft Principles with several social media platforms and other key stakeholders, and expects to publish a final version in due course. 17. The CMA has also expressed its view on what platforms need to do in order to comply with consumer law in its oral submission to the DCMS Select Committee Influencer culture inquiry, its submissions to the DCMS Select Committee on influencer culture in May 2021 and the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill in September 2021, in our ongoing dialogue with Government in relation to consumer reform and most recently, in our response to the Government’s consultation on the Online Advertising Programme. 18. The Principles are based on the undertakings provided by Facebook Ireland Limited in respect of its Instagram platform in October 2020 and the CMA’s interpretation of consumer protection law, and in particular what the CMA considers is required for a social