Although the term isn’t in the dictionary yet, the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) had already taken note of it. Its Word Observatory describes an influencer as «a person with the ability to influence others, mainly through social media».
Now, thanks to new legislation that aims to regulate influencer activity (Royal Decree 444/2024, which completes an article of Spain’s General Audiovisual Communication Act 13/2022), brands will know exactly who they’re working with and can be sure, where applicable, that their paid collaborations aren’t breaking any rules. By putting influencer activity on a par with other advertising channels, their work is subject to the same legal requirements as any audiovisual media outlet.
Since May, influencers have been required to:
Register on the State Register of Audiovisual Communication Service Providers
Comply with the advertising rules that apply to all audiovisual media.
Clearly identify commercial advertising in their content.
Adapt content to time slots and recommended ages. For example, they must avoid products such as tobacco and limit mentions of betting companies to certain hours.
Respect basic principles such as gender equality, human dignity and protecting the image of minors.
To what extent are brands responsible if these rules are broken?
Under this law, brands would share responsibility for any breach of the obligations it sets out.
As a brand, before running any advertising with collaborations, go to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business portal and check that your ‘provider type’ appears on the State Register of Audiovisual Communication Service Providers, Video-Sharing Platform Service Providers and Audiovisual Communication Service Aggregation Providers.
One thing we’re sure will catch your eye when you visit the portal is how few influencers are listed. So who does this law affect?
As a side note, before answering, it’s worth knowing that all content creators, whether or not this law applies to them, must label any communication promoting a service, product or brand as advertising.
Under this law, an influencer, or user of special relevance, is someone who:
Earns gross annual income of 300,000 euros or more. This also includes income from platforms, clients or subscriptions, as well as other payments, both monetary and in kind.
Has editorial responsibility for their content.
Reaches 1,000,000 followers on a single platform over the course of a year, or 2,000,000 across different platforms.
Publishes at least 24 videos a year.
Creates content whose aim is to inform, entertain or educate.
Is established in Spain.
Shares their content across different electronic communication networks.
Some questions remain unanswered, such as how anyone can stick to specific time slots when social media content stays online forever. We imagine that, over time, the loose ends of a law created to complement and improve a previous one will be tied up.
