Bloggers ordered to reveal paid content

Watchdog: Comply or you’ll be ‘named and shamed’

BLOGGERS who do not disclose when they have been paid for content will be named and shamed, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASAI) has warned.

ASAI chief executive Orla Twomey, speaking at the authority’s ‘inform and engage’ event at Facebook HQ yesterday, said the details of anyone who doesn’t comply with the rules of the organisation will be made public.

‘The sanction is against both blogger and advertiser,’ she said.

‘It is the “name and shame” sanction where we will publish the adjudication of the complaints committee.

‘Their reputation – their brand reputation – is very important to them. So they need to be careful [in case] their follower thinks they are likely to be misled.’

Ms Twomey also highlighted that consumers need to be made aware of when advertisements are being directed at them.

‘There is nothing wrong with a blogger and a brand working together to co-create content. We don’t have an issue with that,’ she said.

‘It is just that we think consumers should know when they are being advertised to.

‘So we just want to make sure that everybody is crystal clear about what they need to do and when they need to do it.’

The ASAI rules state that a marketing communication should be ‘clearly designed and presented’ and that advertorials should be ‘clearly identified and distinguished from editorial matter’.

In January, Dublin hotelier, Paul Stenson, posted an email he had received from a British video blogger, or ‘vlogger’, asking him to stay for free in exchange for publicising his hotel on her vlog.

The email read: ‘As I was searching for places to stay, I came across your stunning hotel and would love to feature you in my YouTube videos/dedicated Instagram stories to bring traffic to your hotel and recommend others to book up in return for free accommodation.’

Mr Stenson, who owns the Charleville Lodge Hotel, responded: ‘It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that, if not much self-respect and dignity.’

He said: ‘If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The receptionist who checks you in?’

In the same month, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed how the winners of two competitions organised by an Irish blogger were in fact her friends.

Taking to Snapchat, lifestyle blogger Terrie McEvoy later issued an apology for her behaviour.

IT is not often Irish politicians resist the temptation to beat around the bush. Yesterday, in a hugely significant move, Leo Varadkar did just that.

While responding to the shock revelation of a ‘rape list’ scrawled on the wall of a boys’ toilet at Davis College in Co. Cork, the Taoiseach referred to this as the ‘age of social media’, one typified by a ‘prevalence of pornography’.

That the most powerful politician in the land has spoken so openly about the scourge of social media and pornography, is undoubtedly a giant step forward. Up to now, the prevalence of pornography, and its tragic ramifications on the lives of both young men and women, has been the elephant in the room. Now that the Taoiseach has publicly addressed the issue, perhaps we can now move to do what needs to be done to stem its prevalence.

The truth is that our society has been blighted by easy access to pornography, which smartphone devices facilitate. This is especially so in the case of children.

In turn, this has led to the tragic reality of widespread depression, anxiety and suicide among those who should be enjoying their innocence.

The ‘rape list’ on that wall in Davis College is but one of countless terrible incidents which beg for a robust response. The Taoiseach says it further emphasises ‘the need to modernise and improve relationship and sex education in our schools’.

We agree. But will that be enough to prevent children from being bullied and ‘pornified’ online? We doubt it.

Having pinpointed the problem, the logical next step is for the Taoiseach to suggest solutions that actually work. If smartphones are responsible for the delivery of pornography, if they expose children to bullying – thereby putting them at risk of depression and suicide – then the only sensible policy response should be to keep smartphones away from children.

The Taoiseach must be commended for broaching an issue many others would rather dodge. Let us hope he and his colleagues will now take the next step and decisively deal with it.