The Instagram “influencer” Sophie Hinchliffe is being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority after allegedly failing to disclose adverts on her social media account. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had received three complaints in April concerning the labelling of adverts in her Instagram posts. Under advertising rules, social media influencers must make it clear that they have been paid or rewarded to promote, review or talk about a product in their social media feeds. Hinchliffe, whose social media following has made her one of the best-selling authors in the UK, shifting hundreds of thousands of copies of her debut book, said: “I take the responsibility that comes with having a large social media following very seriously, and, for me, being authentic and transparent is incredibly important. This suggested that people following influencers were not deterred from making purchases by the knowledge that influencers had been paid to post.

Source: The Guardian June 05, 2019 18:22 UTC