New Laws Restrict ‘Influencer Health Advice’
Written By Matilda Byrne
Social media is rife with ‘influencers’ who promote products like makeup, skincare, fashion
and in some cases vitamins and medication. With new changes to the Therapeutic Goods
Administration Rules, influencers cannot promote a product they are being paid to endorse,
claiming it’s from their ‘personal experience’ of the product, which also includes gifts that
influencers are incentivised to promote. This amounts to a testimonial, which is prohibited
by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. In effect, common practices like ‘before and after’
of skincare or weight loss products will violate this law. Instead influencers wishing to
promote products must indicate to their followers that this is a sponsored post and not health
advice.
Given that the same rules apply to radio and television advertising, this is not a foreign
concept being applied exclusively to social media. Influencers are in a unique position that
their posts often have significant outreach and promotion of health products that fall within
the Therapeutic Goods Administration could be harmful. With the rise of COVID-19
misinformation in the past two years and anti-vaccination rhetoric, these laws are important
to protect consumers from health advice that is only bolstered by financial incentives or
freebies.
If sponsored posts tell a consumer that a product will ‘relieve pain’ or ‘remove toxins’ this
constitutes advice and will violate the new laws. Dr Ian Musgrave from the University of
Adelaide has highlighted how the promotion of medications, may encourage consumers to
substitute their treatments for harmful or ineffective products. Evidently, the rise of ‘natural’
treatments and pseudo-medicine is harmful as it is not endorsed by the medical community.
Weight-loss products, such as diet suppressants are proven to be harmful and may affect
younger people online who are not as critical of what products they purchase.
Although this may limit the scope of what products can be promoted online, promoting
fashion or music does not pose a risk of harm in the same way. It is not a blanket ban on
advertising, only to products that fall within the ambits of the Therapeutic Goods
Administration. What is important in following these new laws, is transparency and not
deceiving consumers that the health benefits are from your personal experience.
Coming into effect from July 2022, these laws will see a shift in the way health products are
promoted. It will be more common to see skincare products being endorsed, followed up by
#ad or explicit statements that do not constitute health advice. For example, a statement like
‘promotes hair growth’ is allowed, not ‘my hair grew 5 inches from this product’. With a
blanket ban on prescription-only medications, this will be an important shift that reflects
public interest and will see consumers protected against harm.
Ultimately, although the tightened laws may on the face of it, seem harsh, in promoting the
interests of health and safety, these changes are important in upholding community safety and
not letting health advertising online go unchecked.