Influencers and Disclosure

Influencers to post disclaimers in their product endorsements says the Government of India’s Consumer Affairs Department. Broadly, I welcome this move and hope the ‘guideline’ is not draconian, and Orwellian but participatory. India is not alone in trying to a law on this, the United Kingdom is also working on a similar move.

During my days running Vishwak Solutions where we developed content management solutions for traditional newspaper and broadcasting companies around the world, I got exposed in the early 2000s to the idea & importance of voluntary disclosures. Readers & subscribers have a right to know about the writer’s affiliation & interests on the subject. My (then) customer Hindustan Times’ Mint had published an editorial/journalistic code of conduct, which left a mark on me.

So, when I started writing my personal blog around 2004, which so far has no commercial objectives, I tried to include a disclosure (like the one seen below) in my reviews.