The disclosure requirement in influencer marketing means that paid collaborations and promotional content must be clearly and transparently identified as advertising.

As soon as an influencer receives compensation for a post, story, or video – whether in the form of money, products, or other benefits – that content must be labeled accordingly, for example, with terms such as “Advertisement” or “Sponsored.” The goal is for followers to immediately recognize that the content is commercial and not a purely personal recommendation.

This is particularly important in the context of the community: A missing or unclear disclosure can undermine followers trust and be perceived as misleading. At the same time, the disclosure requirement legally protects influencers from warnings or penalties.

In addition, the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important: If content has been created or edited in whole or in part using AI- such as through generated images, voices, or deepfake elements- this should also be made transparent. Precisely because AI-generated content is often difficult to distinguish from real content, transparency is crucial here to maintain credibility with followers.

For influencers, it is therefore part of their professional practice to clearly label both advertising and the use of AI and to comply with the relevant legal and platform-specific requirements.