According to the decree, when is someone considered an influencer in Spain?

[Dimaeiya333]

Draft Royal Decree 444/2024 seeks to clarify the provisions first established in the General Law on Audiovisual Communication (LGCA) of 2022. The LGCA established the concept of vloggers and content creators on social networks as " users of special relevance ", recognizing them as service providers and subject to the advertising provisions provided for in the law.

According to the LGCA, users of special relevance are defined as:

- Participate in video services through a platform;

- They earn significant income from their activity;

- They reach a significant portion of the general public with their services;

- Their purpose is the distribution of audiovisual content;

- The communication network used to distribute audiovisual content is established in Spain.

Spanish marketing professionals and content creators have long been advocating for a specific legal framework that recognises influencer marketing as a profession. In fact, Spain has been one of the European countries that pioneered the need to regulate influencer marketing. In 2019, IAB Spain published the first Influencer Marketing White Paper that defined the influencer marketing ecosystem and influencer marketing strategies. A year later, the Spanish advertising self-regulation organisation Autocontrol published the Code of Conduct on the use of influencers in advertising.

Shelia Martín, head of Social Media at the Madrid-based agency Marketing Paradise, has stated that measures aimed at protecting the public from harmful practices on social networks are essential, but has denounced the limited scope of the proposed regulation.

"We find the requirements that have been established to define the 'users of special relevance' that will be subject to the law questionable," Martin told the Spanish publication Strategy In Digital. "Any profile that creates advertising content, regardless of its turnover or the size of its community, should be subject to certain measures." For example, those aimed at eliminating covert subliminal advertising or restricting the promotion of products harmful to health."

What sanctions are there for influencers, YouTubers and other creators who do not comply with the law?
Fines for non-compliance with the LGCA start at €10,000 and can go u vp r&d email database p to €1.5 million, depending on income. But, as its name suggests, the law applies to audiovisual content, which raises questions about whether it would also apply to particularly high-profile users who post text and static photos.

How many creators will be affected by the Spanish influencer law?
According to data from Koslquare, in Spain there are only 96 KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) with more than 2M followers on YouTube with at least 5% of their audience in Spain, and 26 KOLs with more than 2M followers on YouTube with at least 30% of their audience in Spain.

On Instagram, there are 179 KOLs with more than 2 million followers and at least 5% of their audience in Spain, while 74 KOLs have at least 30% of their audience in Spain.

According to IAB Spain , advertising investment in digital media increased by 10% to reach 4.5 billion euros in Spain in 2022, with 64 million euros invested in influencers.

"Our data shows that there are around 117,000 KOLs with at least 5,000 followers and 30% of their audience in Spain. Regardless of the size of their communities, they all have the potential to partner with brands and promote harmful products through a variety of platforms and content formats," says Bordage.
When does the influencer law come into force?
The new law for influencers in Spain was approved on April 30, 2024 by Royal Decree 444/2024. However, its entry into force is conditional on the approval of a regulation that specifies the specific requirements of this regulation. The law establishes that it will enter into force one year after the approval of the corresponding regulation.

So far, some actions contemplated in the regulation have already been taken, since influencers had until July 2 to register in the State Registry of Audiovisual Providers as Users of Special Relevance. In total, 36 influencers complied with the measure, including Ibai Llanos, El Rubius, El Xokas, Jordi Wild, Laura Escanes, Lola Lolita, Tamara Falcó, Paula Echevarría, Verdeliss, and Dulceida.