93 per cent of #spon Instagram posts breach FTC regulations

Earlier this year, 47 celebrities were told by the Federal Trade Commission that they needed to maintain a higher level of transparency when it comes to who is paying for those #spon Instagram posts.

However, following on from this controversy, a new report has claimed that a massive 93 per cent of celebrity social endorsements from the past month actually violate FTC guidelines.

 

I'm obsessed with everything in my @fabfitfun box! You guys will love everything inside! #ad Use code KHLOE for $10 off at www.fabfitfun.com. I love what @fabfitfun is doing to support women!! #thankmelater #fabfitfun

A post shared by Khloé (@khloekardashian) on Apr 10, 2017 at 9:02am PDT

Any Instagram post that acts as an advertisement must feature #ad or #sponsored somewhere in the caption that is plain to see – i.e not at the very end so that Instagram cuts it off.

The FTC also insist that tagging the brand or company that has paid for the post does not count as proper disclosure.

According to Cosmopolitan, the study, carried out by MediaKix, looked at Instagram's top 50 celebrity and influencer accounts and found that just 7 per cent of 2,200 posts were with compliant FTC regulations.

Instagrammers who are involved in long-term partnerships with brands are also expected to abide by the same rules.

Many of the celebs who were originally contacted by the FTC have since deleted the posts in question, however, as a result of the controversy, Instagram will now add a new “paid partnership with” sub-header (much like the example above) to sponsored post and stories in order to avoid any further confusion.