Sanremo: TAR confirms fine against RAI for hidden advertising on Instagram by Amadeus and Chiara Ferragni

The fourth section of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court "today confirmed the €175,000 fine imposed by Agcom on RAI for the hidden advertising on Instagram carried out by Amadeus and Chiara Ferragni during the 2023 edition of the Sanremo Festival and decided to send the documents to the Corte dei Conti (Court of Auditors) for the relevant assessments".

This was announced by Codacons, which was present in the judgement at the TAR to protect the category of users. "Now the Court of Auditors will have to open an investigation into the case to ascertain any possible damages to the public purse," comments Codacons. In this sense, we will present an exposé to the accounting judiciary so that it will call both Chiara Ferragni and Amadeus to account for the illegal conduct confirmed by the TAR, considering that the penalty will be paid by the state network and therefore by the citizens who finance it through the licence fee, and we will warn Agcom and Antitrust to start - as suggested by the TAR in today's judgement - a separate proceeding for hidden advertising against Amadeus and Ferragni".

"The ruling of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court published today only and exclusively concerns the 2023 edition of the Sanremo Festival and, therefore, does not in any way affect the 2024 edition of the Festival, which begins this evening," Viale Mazzini explained in a note. "In its ruling, in particular, the Tar rejected Codacons' request to extend the cross-examination to the presenter and co-hosts of the 73rd edition of the Sanremo Festival, as they were unrelated to the administrative sanctions decided by the Communications Authority, and also upheld Rai's appeal regarding the inclusion of the Postcards aimed at promoting the Region of Liguria, cancelling the related €51,645 fine imposed on Rai. On this - as affirmed by the Regional Administrative Tribunal - Rai fully complied with the law governing the institutional communication activities of public bodies, such as the Liguria Region". "Confirmed, instead," it is further explained, "the sanction of 123,498 euro for the alleged advertising of the social network Instagram, against which Rai will appeal to the Council of State, trusting in the full legitimacy of its actions, also in relation to any fiscal aspects of the affair. It should be emphasised that the ruling nevertheless acknowledges that, in relation to the 73rd edition of the Sanremo Festival, no commercial agreement was entered into either between Rai and Instagram, or between Chiara Ferragni and the same social network, or between Amadeus and Instagram. Nevertheless, the TAR censured the use of Instagram as an alleged tool to increase the audience'.