The Ministry of Trade closely monitors trade on social media. The Advertising Board, which operates under the institution, has increased its inspections of social media celebrities. According to the news in TRT News, serious fines were imposed on accounts that advertised illegally.
Advertisement Board imposed a fine of 6 million 388 thousand 802 lira
The Advertising Self-Regulatory Board has been assigned by the Ministry of Commerce, and the Project for Scanning Social Media Advertisements with Artificial Intelligence has been working since March 2022. The board, which examines the advertising agreements of famous accounts on social media, referred to as “influencers,” announced the balance sheet.
The Ministry of Trade Advertisement Board announced that it has imposed a total of 6 million 388 thousand 802 lira in fines in the two-year period. Last year, 5 social media influencers and so far this year, 11 social media influencers were subjected to these fines.
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Influencers must clearly and understandably state that their posts are advertisements. The penalties applied were for accounts that did not meet the requirements of the legislation. According to the statement, the practice carried out by the board is bearing fruit. The rate of such posts has dropped from 57 percent to 11 percent.
The Ministry of Trade Advertisement Board has imposed 39 suspension penalties, 11 suspensions and administrative fines in the first 6 months of this year. The suspension penalties include a request to correct or remove advertisements that are contrary to the legislation.
The penalty was applied by taking into consideration factors such as the unfair content of the post that was contrary to the legislation, its repetition, the size of the impact area depending on the number of followers, and the benefits and economic situation of the influencers from the post.