When influencers advertise on social media, the posts should be clearly marked as advertisements. This is something that is not happening to a sufficient extent, as shown by the 50-odd supervisory cases that the Consumer Agency has opened against some of Sweden's most well-known names in the industry.
The Consumer Agency's Director-General and Consumer Ombudsman Cecilia Tisell is deeply critical and calls the industry "immature" and says that the individuals in question believe they can "stand above the law".
We have legislation that clearly states that advertisements must be marked in a clear manner. Despite the fact that we have communicated this and driven cases to court, we see that very many are ignoring these rules, she says to TT.
Several well-known names
Among those being scrutinized are, for example, Bianca Ingrosso, Therese Lindgren, and Jocke & Jonna. The majority of the actors have hundreds of thousands of followers, many of whom are young. They are also individuals whose businesses are run in company form with million-kronor profits, for example, Therese Lindgren's company had a turnover of over twelve million kronor in 2023 and made a profit of 9.5 million kronor.
This is not small business, but companies that are turning over large sums. They should be aware of this and it is not acceptable to claim that they do not know the rules, says Cecilia Tisell.
This effort shows that unfortunately, it does not get much better, and there are widespread violations.
Lawyers have reviewed a number of posts on, for example, Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram, and Snapchat. The parties that are now being scrutinized have the opportunity to respond to the Consumer Agency.
Many times, companies correct themselves when we make our observations, and then we can write off the case.
Legal action
If this does not happen, it may ultimately involve legal action in the form of injunctions linked to fines or the matter being tried in court. A fine can be imposed if the company breaks the ban again.
Often, it involves a lot of money, but it depends on the company's turnover. It's not about a few hundred thousand kronor. The purpose of the fine is to be deterrent, says Cecilia Tisell.
Therese Lindgren AB
Jocke & Jonna AB
Alice Stenlöf AB
Matilda Djerf AB
Bianca Ingrosso AB
Lucas Simonsson AB
Emelie Nilsson AB
Carl Déman AB
Jonas Fagerström AB
Lucas Simonsson AB
Gynning Productions AB
Gynning Design AB
Sanne Alexandra Josefson AB
Lovisa Worge AB
Bingo Rimér Enterprise AB
Julia Bergman AB
Lisa Anckarman AB
Hanna Happy AB
Artistic Hair By Emelie AB
Hanna Schönberg AB
