Instagram vows to crack down on brand influencers who get paid to hawk guns, tobacco or vaping products
- Those posts are already banned, but Instagram says it will increase enforcement
- The platform will also eventually roll out rules on alcohol and supplements
- Brand influencers will also now be able to share metrics with companies
Instagram said it will up its effort to stop its brand influencers from pushing products that promote tobacco, guns, or vaping.
While the platform has always banned promoted posts that push products in those categories, on Wednesday, the company announced its intention to begin more strictly enforcing those rules.
‘Across the Facebook company, we are updating our policies to include clearer rules for the paid promotion of certain goods and services such as vaping, tobacco, alcohol and diet supplements,’ the company wrote.
‘Branded content that promotes goods such as vaping, tobacco products and weapons will not be allowed. Our advertising policies have long prohibited the advertisement of these products, and we will begin enforcement on this in the coming weeks.’
Instagram says it will toughen enforcement on brand influencers who are found pushing guns, tobacco, or vaping products (Stock image)
In addition to posts that are found to be promoting tobacco, guns, and vaping, Instagram says it is also currently working on special rules that govern when branded content can promote alcohol or dietary supplements.
Instagram says those rules will go into place next year as it works on its tools to automatically detect applicable content.
It’s not all crime and punishment for influencers, however.
Alongside the new standards, Instagram also announced that it will open up a ‘Brands Collab Manager’ where Instagram creators can share insights into their page to help find ad partners.
Instagram’s new Brand Collabs Manager helps influencers interface with potential ad partners by sharing metrics on engagement and more
The interface would help link influencers and their branded partners in a way that has not yet been seen on Instagram.
As noted by The Verge, influencers are often required to take screen shots of their metrics and send those to brands interested in partnering with the creators.
This more formal linkage – a portal between the influencer and brands – also puts a greater responsibility on Instagram to regulate the influencer community which has historically operated outside of the platform’s scope.
According to Instagram, it plans to roll out even more influencer tools in 2020 and as its invests more into the sphere.