EU Draft Would Require Influencers to Label Sponsored Content

By Marcus Bennett

A draft European Union Digital Fairness Act would require influencers to label sponsored videos and posts as “advertisement” or “commercial collaboration,” according to draft documents seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP). The proposal, due to be unveiled Wednesday by EU Consumer Protection Chief Michael McGrath, would also bar brands from asking influencers to encourage children to buy products or persuade their parents to buy items.

The Digital Fairness Act is a consumer-protection overhaul, but the cited language remains a draft rather than enacted EU law. McGrath’s Wednesday presentation would unveil the proposal, not establish adoption. AFP’s report includes no creator response, adoption date, penalty schedule or phased compliance timetable.

What does this change for creators and brands?

If enacted, sponsored creator posts would need one of the draft’s two labels, and brands could not instruct influencers to get children to buy products or push parents toward purchases. For creators reaching children or parents, the restriction reaches campaign strategy and brand instructions, not merely disclosure wording.

For practitioner budgets, the draft points to operational work rather than a stated media-spend increase. Brands and agencies may need to revise creator briefs, contracts, approval checks and disclosure workflows; no compliance-cost estimate is available. The proposal also offers no algorithmic or reach forecast and does not establish how the labels would affect engagement.

The current disclosure gap

The EU currently has no single, dedicated influencer-marketing law. A December 2025 briefing from the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) said relevant rules are spread across consumer protection, audiovisual media and digital regulation.

Under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, failing to disclose a trader’s commercial intent—the seller’s business motive—counts as a misleading omission. EPRS said responsibilities across the influencer marketing value chain, from creator through agency to brand, remain unclear. A 2024 fitness check of EU consumer law reached the same conclusion about legal uncertainty.

A 2024 sweep by the European Commission and consumer authorities from 22 EU member states, Norway and Iceland reviewed posts by 576 influencers. Of those, 97% posted commercial content, but only about 20% systematically indicated that posts were advertisements.

The sweep also found that 38% did not use platform-provided labels such as “paid partnership.” They used terms including “collaboration” and “thanks to the brand” instead.

National rules already differ

France adopted a dedicated influencer law in 2023. Spain followed with a 2024 royal decree covering high-profile influencers, while Italy’s communications regulator adopted a binding code of conduct in July 2025. The Netherlands also maintains a Social Media and Influencer Advertising Code.

Broader consumer protections

• Deceptive interfaces and scarcity claims. The draft would ban “dark patterns,” which AFP described as “features designed to deceive users into making choices a seller prefers.” Online sellers could not make false claims about an item’s availability or popularity, or suggest that popularity makes an item scarce.
• Full-price disclosure. “Drip pricing,” meaning fees hidden until the end of a purchase, would be barred. Sellers would have to show an order’s full price before checkout.
• Games and minors. Developers could not offer minors “pay-to-win” or “pay-to-progress” features, meaning purchases that provide an advantage or faster advancement. In-game virtual currencies would have to show the real-world value of the currency used to buy them.
• User controls and free trials. Users could disable autoplay, meaning automatic playback, and notifications unrelated to their activity. Platforms would have to remind consumers when a free trial ends, including the end date and the cost of continuing.

Industry positions remain divided

Before the proposal emerged, EPRS recorded divided views. BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, called for binding rules, standardized labeling and joint liability among influencers, agencies and brands, meaning shared responsibility for violations. The European Brands Association, or AIM, wants an EU definition of “influencer” and shared liability across the advertising chain.

The European Influencer Marketing Alliance prefers practical guidance and stronger enforcement to new legislation. TikTok has rejected inflexible, mandatory rules for disclosing commercial content, according to EPRS.

Wednesday’s unveiling is the next checkpoint for the final disclosure labels, child-marketing restrictions, liability and timing. Until then, creators and brands should treat the draft as a proposal, not a live EU requirement.