Bloggers Revolt as FTC Sticks To Its New Regulations

by Ron Schenone

It seems that the media and bloggers are united in an effort to have the FTC review its current guidelines when it comes to social media. The FTC suggests that its new rules are an effort to control and enforce honest and unbiased reviews that are not misleading. A recent article states:

“Although the [Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)] contends the FTC’s Endorsement Guides are unconstitutional, the Guides apply only to marketing and they attempt to illustrate some of the factors relevant to distinguishing advertising from editorial content,” says Mary Engle, the FTC’s director of the division of advertising practices, in an email statement released today. “If particular communications do not in fact constitute advertising, as the IAB appears to be suggesting, then the Guides do not apply. Where the message is advertising, however, disseminators have an obligation to ensure it is not misleading. This includes, when it is not otherwise clear from the context, identifying when the endorser has been paid for the endorsement. Although IAB may disagree with the policy, nothing in this approach is unconstitutional,” Engle re-iterated.

In a response to the FTC ruling from the Interactive Advertising Bureau it states:

The request for the FTC retraction, written by Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a group that represents more than 375 media and tech companies including AOL, Google, MSN, and The New York Times Digital, also called for the commission to begin anew with “a fair and open process,” this time with more input from bloggers and other social media professionals. Read the full letter here.

In submitting the letter, the IAB joins the chorus of bloggers and pundits arguing that the new guidelines punish new media. “One of the extremely real effects of these rules is to dry up a flow of opportunity to solo media entrepreneurs without touching offline media professionals,” says Rothenberg.

Some have previously suggested that the FTC is not going to be able to enforce its rules because of the magnitude of the amount of bloggers and social media currently on the Internet. I tend to agree.