ASA to govern online ads and social networking messages

Posted by Luke Williams on September 1, 2010 in geeky stuff | 0 comments

From March 2011 the ASA remit will be extended to include online advertising, and more interestingly, social networking type messages:

…Marketing communications in other non-paid-for space under their control, such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Generally I think it’s a good idea to have the same protections for consumers online as in print.

What does this mean for you?

Consider doing a comprehensive content audit to check that your website complies with the guidelines.
Ensure your employee handbook covers social networking communications too so that all staff are aware that what they say on these platforms may be covered by the guidelines.
Update staff to explain that Facebook/Twitter etc are now covered by this code.

By no means do I claim to be an expert on ASA code, all comments/discussion welcome below.