Censorship and million-dollar fines for Influencers: the current situation of unprotection they face

Nowadays, advertising has changed a lot compared to what it was a few years ago. With the advent of the Internet and the digital era, people have gradually stopped relying on traditional media and have turned to Influencers instead.

Why are Influencers so important?

The Influencers are people who generate engagement with their followers and through their presence on social networks can become a very important prescriber of any brand.

But what makes them really important is that they convey greater credibility than traditional advertising. Because they give their opinion of the product/service, positive and apparently disinterested. And, in addition, they have a large online reach. Creating a perfect mix with guaranteed success.

We already know what Influencers are and why they are so important today. But not all Influencers are dedicated to the same platform or social network.. They can be: youtubers, instagramers, tiktokers, etc.

As a result of the accelerated growth of this new profession, there is fear on the part of the traditional media, because after all, they are competition. Competition that is getting bigger and bigger.

Communication is evolving and they refuse to adapt to change.. So instead of supporting them, they decide the opposite.

What problems are they likely to face?

• Audiovisual Communication Law

The Spanish government has launched the new Audiovisual Communication Law affecting Influencers and streamers. It should be noted that this law also affects Spanish Influencers who have left Spain.

This law aims to regulate Internet content. The State may directly intervene in what content may or may not be broadcast. on video broadcasting platforms.

It will also affect advertising, they want to regulate the balance in commercial advertising, because now most commercial players are betting on the Internet, leaving traditional media in the background. Basically the government wants to regulate competition.

In addition, the government, with this law, will be able to fine directly any Influencer without going through the platform they are on, since they will be treated as audiovisual service providers as could be radio or television.

As mentioned above, this law also affects Spaniards who are not in Spain.even if they are outside Europe. The government considers them as established in Spain.

This law also includes sections such as the protection of minors and users, as well as reducing the exposure on video platforms of what they consider to be unhealthy.

Another section would be to protect users from disinformation. Censoring or eliminating those channels whose content is considered inaccurate in order to avoid misinformation to viewers.

The final objective of this law is to consider Influencers as service providers so that they can have control over the content they generate.

• Twich changes its policy and stops protecting streamers

If we go into the world of streaming, there can also be obstacles. Like Twich's new policy that leaves streamers unprotected on issues such as copyright, banning and million-dollar fines..

In the last few years Twich has grown in views by 45%. This growth has led to an increased number of legal disputes, mostly copyright related.

Twich will no longer act as an intermediary.The streamers were left out in the cold, exposing them to legal action in the form of fines in the millions.

These are not the only problems Influencers can face, there are many more that are also fraught with fines and legal sanctions.

The following are already gaining ground Influencers fined on the issue of cryptocurrency promotions as, recently, the CNMV (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) warned that they are disseminating investment recommendations without complying with the regulations.

On the other hand, the first judgement forcing a youtuber to publicly acknowledge, via his YouTube channel, his conviction for insulting another youtuber. This is a new development in jurisprudence. The latter will have to publish a video citing each and every one of the dates of those videos with defamatory content. It will also have to compensate the affected party with a fine of 1,500 euros.

These are just a few examples of problems that Influencers can face, but there are more ...