Influencer marketing: new EU rules come into force on 27 September

In recent years, companies have been investing an increasing proportion of their advertising budgets in influencer marketing, drawn by the authenticity and perceived greater credibility of creators compared to traditional corporate communication. But if a commercial message is conveyed by an influencer, does this change the rules applicable to its content? The answer is no. If an environmental, quality or comparative claim would be problematic in a traditional advertising campaign, it is equally problematic in a story, a reel or a video posted by a creator. The principle is not new. The rules on unfair commercial practices set out in the Consumer Code and the Advertising Self-Regulatory Code apply to all forms of commercial communication, regardless of the channel used. The growing focus by AGCM and AGCOM on the phenomenon of influencer marketing confirms that social media is not a free-for-all.

Yet many companies continue to focus primarily on the formal aspects of compliance – using hashtags such as #adv, #advertising or #partnership – whilst neglecting the substantive compliance of their claims. This issue will become even more significant with the implementation, from 27 September 2026, of the new provisions introduced by EU Directive 2024/825, transposed into Italian law by Legislative Decree 30/2026, which aim to combat greenwashing and pay particular attention to generic and unsubstantiated claims, such as ‘100% sustainable’, ‘planet-friendly’, ‘zero impact’ or ‘green’. The real challenge, however, is not merely to comply with the new rules, but to do so without ‘watered down’ messages and content. Striking the right balance between compliance and effectiveness requires structured cooperation between the various corporate functions – legal, sustainability, communications and marketing – to ensure that sustainability communication is both accurate and capable of engaging the public.

The primary party responsible for validating content is the company promoting the product or service: the claims made in an influencer marketing campaign must be validated and substantiated with the same rigour as a television advert or a press campaign. Entrusting the message to a creator does not diminish the need for adequate evidence to support the claims.

But alsoinfluencers and agenciescannot ignore the issue. Greater awareness of the regulatory framework makes it possible, in fact, to negotiate more effective contracts and appropriate safeguards. In this scenario, it is becoming increasingly advisable to include clauses that clearly assign responsibility to the brand for the accuracy and substantiation of claims, accompanied by appropriate indemnities in favour of creators and agencies. Furthermore, identifying risk factors in advance helps to preserve one’s credibility with the community: in an ecosystem where authenticity and trust represent a creator’s main reputational capital, the choice of partners and messages takes on crucial importance.

The imminent implementation of the new European provisions therefore requires all communications professionals to manage commercial content more carefully, bearing in mind that responsibility for the accuracy of claims remains with the client, but the reputational fallout from an accusation of greenwashing (or, worse still, legal action) could extend to anyone who has helped to disseminate the message.