Greater transparency. This is the objective that the Council of Ministers wants to achieve by giving the green light to the Charity Bill, also driven by the now well-known Ferragni case. This is a bill that imposes stricter rules for influencers, content creators and companies that sponsor products and services through their activity on social networks and beyond.
Adolfo Urso, Minister of Business and Made in Europe, stated that the DDL will ensure clear and non-misleading information and, therefore, will protect consumers from any non-transparent communications from influencers.
The new rules to follow require content creators and producers to provide clear indications on their activity, especially when they concern commercial operations involving charitable initiatives. Let’s discover the Charity Bill in detail.
Charity bill, the new rules to follow
To avoid a new Ferragni case, the DDL puts in black and white everything that influencers and producers of goods must do when dealing with charitable initiatives linked to commercial operations. In addition to the price, it must be indicated on the packaging of the products or in the description of the services offered the total amount that you intend to allocate to charity if it is a predetermined amount.
If the amount to be donated is, however, determined by sales, it must be indicated the exact percentage of the price of each individual product allocated to charity. Other information to be communicated to consumers is: the purposes of the operation e the recipient of the funds. In this way those who purchase can know with extreme certainty how they are contributing to the initiative.
These details will also need to be communicated during product sponsorships, including via stickers. But it doesn’t end here. Before the product or service goes on sale, the Competition and Market Guarantor must be informed and indicate the intention to carry out the promotional activity and the date by which the donation will be made. From then on, you will have three months to make and communicate the payment.
Charity bill, fines for those who don’t respect the rules and the first criticisms
Those who do not respect the rules, whether they are producers or influencers, could face fines they start from 5 thousand euros and can reach up to 50 thousand euros. The Antitrust Authority will issue the sanctions and will carefully ensure that the law is respected. If the violation is repeated, there is a risk of suspension of the activity for one year.
With a new decree, solidarity initiatives should then be identified allocate 50% of the amounts obtained through sanctions for those who do not comply with the rules.
The Charity Bill has found many supporters, among which Chiara Ferragni stands out, who said she was happy with a legislative gap filled quickly, but there is no shortage of criticism, including those who define the penalties as too light and those who fear that the lack of proportionality of sanctions may discourage small businesses and smaller influencers to engage in solidarity activities.