Financial Penalties Upon Influencers for Lack of Cooperation With the Polish Authority

We are pleased to invite you to read the article: “Financial Penalties Upon Influencers for Lack of Cooperation With the Polish Authority”, authored by dr. hab. Ewa Skrzydlo-Tefelska and Marta Kowalczuk-Kędzierska, published by GALA Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance.

Recently, Polish Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (“OCCP”) has imposed financial penalties on influencers against whom it has initiated proceedings in autumn 2021 for the lack of cooperation. Six decisions were issued for a fine of total amount of almost 30 thousand Euros.

In 2021 the Office has initiated proceedings against influencers who published on social media content indicating that it may be sponsored (what can violate the laws on the consumers; and competition protection). As part of the ongoing investigations into the labeling of commercial content on social media and suspected scam, the OCCP’s President inquired dozens of leading Polish influencers to collect information about the functioning of the influencer marketing industry and verifying the accuracy of their labeling of commercial content on social media. The Office asked influencers to be provided with:

• description of their business,
• turnover achieved in the previous calendar year,
• rules they follow when tagging posts,
• information on whether they received other material benefits out of the commercial cooperation,
• copies of contracts concluded with brands, celebrities or agencies.