Spain plans to lead efforts in Europe by introducing the first dedicated system for regulating social media content, standards and advertising practices for influencers.
Last Friday, the Council of Ministers considered the draft of a new general Law on Audiovisual Communications (LGCA), often referred to as the “Influencers Law”. Spain’s “digital transformation” initiative, presented by the Ministry of Economy, aims to define the legal rights of content creators, vloggers and influencers who attract Spanish audiences on social media platforms.
The new LGCA highlights key goals including protecting content and the intellectual property of creators, ensuring the safety of minors from adult content, and establishing certain rights on social media platforms.
The LGCA proposes changes to Spanish media law by recognizing content creators as “audiovisual content service providers.” This change reflects the growing influence of content creators on the Spanish media market, both in terms of audience and advertising investment.
Thus, the new rules will apply to creators whose income from content on social media platforms exceeds €300,000 ($332,400).
Content creators must provide information about their businesses and media to the State Registry of Audiovisual Service Providers in order to be recognized as audiovisual content service providers.
For their audiences, content creators are required to disclose any activity that generates economic income for them and take “editorial responsibility” for the content posted on their platforms.
Additional changes include the introduction of parental controls to protect minors from adult content and the introduction of strict fines for non-compliance, ranging from €10,000 ($11,066) to €150,000 ($166,000).
According to the LGCA, content creators must comply with the laws of Spain’s Royal Decree on Advertising, which restricts gambling advertising on media platforms from 1 to 5 a.m. and prohibits gambling advertising to Spanish audiences.
Although the Spanish Supreme Court struck down certain articles, the bill retains the rules of the Royal Decree on gambling advertising.
An appeal by Jdigital, a Spanish online gambling trade association, was upheld by the Supreme Court, which said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs bypassed key constitutional procedures to implement the decree’s specific restrictions as federal laws.
Last week, Spain’s new Minister of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, stressed the importance of adhering to restrictions on gambling advertising set by the Supreme Court. He also announced the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ intention to actively reinstate these restrictions in accordance with the Royal Decree. Bustinduy further stepped up the measures by warning the media of upcoming tough checks on online platforms and a ban on loot box advertising as he is responsible for reforming the country’s gambling laws.
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