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Influencers, Agcom clamps down: code of conduct and fines of up to 600,000 euro

The official register of 'relevant' influencers is born. Obligations have been made clear for creators with more than 500,000 followers

by Andrea Biondi

(Adobe Stock)

3' min read

3' min read

Stop disguised advertising, more protection for minors, hefty penalties for those who get out of line and an official register of 'relevant' influencers. After months of consultations and a heated debate even inside its rooms, Agcom has said yes to the first Code of Conduct for influencers. The document - approved in the Council with only Commissioner Elisa Giomi voting against - aims to bring order to a sector that has long been under regulatory scrutiny. And which has unequivocally grown: in 2024 the turnover of influencer marketing reached 370 million, with forecasts of growth to 385 million in 2025.

The one approved by the Agcom Council in its meeting the day before yesterday is a text that is the result of the public consultation launched at the end of last year. The objective, explains the president of the Authority, Giacomo Lasorella, is clear: "The new rules for influencers are further confirmation of the Authority's commitment to protecting citizens and the market for a safe and reliable digital world.

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With the new Code of Conduct, 'relevant influencers' - with at least 500,000 followers or 'a number of average monthly views equal to one million on at least one of the social media or video-sharing platforms used', as Agcom writes in a note - will have to be clearly identifiable and abide by precise rules on commercial communications, protection of fundamental rights, protection of minors and protection of intellectual property. Boundaries that have been in place for some time for TV and which now also come before influencers.

This is not a detail. In fact, Agcom considers these creators to be real editorial subjects. And those who do not comply with the new rules risk fines of up to 250,000 euro, rising to 600,000 in the case of content harmful to minors.

Thus a first step to curb what until yesterday seemed to be a digital free zone. The Code also provides for the creation of an official Register of Relevant Influencers, to which it will be mandatory to register within six months of publication. Here was one of the changes compared to the text that went out for consultation, since the Register will be implemented and maintained only by Agcom, without the help, as initially envisaged, of external subjects.

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'This is a decisive step in the construction of a new balance between freedom of expression, users' rights and the responsibility of digital creators,' comments Commissioner Massimiliano Capitanio, who calls the measure 'a modern and common-sense measure'.

But the balancing act in the Council was not easy, and in any case was not found at all. "The Code fails in its objective of bridging the gap between the audiovisual world and the digital ecosystem in terms of protection for users as well as for the market," wrote Commissioner Elisa Giomi, who voted against the measure, in a very harsh note. The risk, according to her, is that influencers "may continue to operate in a sort of free zone", where practices such as surreptitious advertising, sensationalist content or even incitement to hatred remain possible. Not only that. Giomi also points the finger at one of the thorniest issues in the sector: fake engagement, i.e. artificially inflated interactions to raise the economic value of posts. "I had strongly requested this and it is a serious deficiency," he writes, pointing out that in the television sector there are strict constraints to certify audience data.

The measure comes at a particular time. After the earthquake caused by the Ferragni case, the public discussion on influencer marketing has become more careful. But while celebrity fees are falling, -19% on Instagram, -15% on YouTube, the centrality of microinfluencers, who often operate in very specific niches, is growing. And it is precisely these new players, although not formally included in the new rules, that may soon have to take on board the spirit of them. Because brands, in order to avoid trouble, are starting to impose stricter clauses erga omnes.

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