ASA Issue

chalks

Hi Ru,

Are you paid by Birmingham City Uni to post on this site?

Reply 1

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by chalks

Hi Ru,
Are you paid by Birmingham City Uni to post on this site?

Hi @chalks

Thank you for your question! And to answer your question; yes, this is one of my part-time job roles at the university. I'm an ambassador so my job is to share my experience and help others online and at open days/ university events. It is a great part time role because I work and study with no disturbances.

Thanks again.

Ru
BCU student rep.

Reply 2

chalks

Original post

by BCU Student Rep

Hi @chalks
Thank you for your question! And to answer your question; yes, this is one of my part-time job roles at the university. I'm an ambassador so my job is to share my experience and help others online and at open days/ university events. It is a great part time role because I work and study with no disturbances.
Thanks again.
Ru
BCU student rep.

In which case you need to be aware of the consumer protection legislation which requires you to disclose that you are paid to promote BCU.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-media-endorsements-guide-for-influencers/social-media-endorsements-being-transparent-with-your-followers

https://www.asa.org.uk/static/9cc1fb3f-1288-405d-af3468ff18277299/INFLUENCERGuidanceupdatev6HR.pdf

Reply 3

2is

TSR Community Staff

Hi @chalks

Thanks for raising this - transparency is really important. To clarify: posts marked with the Official Rep badge are written by students or staff who are employed by their university to represent them. This means their role is sometimes part of a paid arrangement with the university, though the content of their posts is based on their own experiences.

We use the Official Rep tag to signal this relationship clearly, and we’ll continue to review how we label these posts to make sure it’s obvious to all users that they are sometimes part of a university's paid ambassador scheme.

Appreciate you highlighting this - it’s a helpful reminder of why clear labelling matters.

Reply 4

chalks

Original post

by 2is

Hi @chalks
Thanks for raising this - transparency is really important. To clarify: posts marked with the Official Rep badge are written by students or staff who are employed by their university to represent them. This means their role is sometimes part of a paid arrangement with the university, though the content of their posts is based on their own experiences.
We use the Official Rep tag to signal this relationship clearly, and we’ll continue to review how we label these posts to make sure it’s obvious to all users that they are sometimes part of a university's paid ambassador scheme.
Appreciate you highlighting this - it’s a helpful reminder of why clear labelling matters.

Hi, and thanks for your reply. I've raised this before but, unfortunately, nothing has changed.

The guidance linked above makes it very clear that "influencers" (and that's what these reps are) need to clearly disclose, on the face of their posts, that they are paid to post their material. It is not sufficient if a user of this site can only discover that paid relationship through clicking through to a different area of the site: it has to be obvious from the post itself.

The attached article provides some more information. That makes it clear that words such as "Ad”, “Advert”, “Advertisement” or “Paid Promotion” should be used. Also, "Influencers must not present paid promotions as their own independent opinions if they have received incentives like payment, free products or other perks."

https://iclg.com/practice-areas/litigation-and-dispute-resolution-laws-and-regulations/01-from-posts-to-penalties-understanding-the-legal-framework-for-social-media-influencers

On the face of it, individual reps and the Unis they represent are in breach. In addition, I would recommend that TSR itself considers the CMA's guidance for digital platforms which appears here: link