The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established on September 26, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC opened its doors on March 16, 1915, to protect consumers and promote competition  (for more information click here.

The Federal Trade Commission is a timeless institution in US consumer protection law and this is evident from the modernization and adaptation of its statutory provisions to the needs of modern times. This can be seen through the legislative provisions on the advertising of products and services by influencers. In particular, since 2017, the Federal Trade Commission has called on brands and influencers to disclose their paid partnerships by displaying hashtag #ad or mentioning "paid partnership" prominently in accordance with the Advertising Guidelines(Endorsement Guides)[ more here ] In particular, posts should identify whether they are sponsored and so-called stories should include both written and verbal disclosure of the commercial partnership between the brand and the influencer. The hashtags #ad and #sponsored are only considered effective if they are visible and not placed at the end of a long string of tags in the post.

The Guidelines were updated the same year as well as in June 2023 ( here ), adding guidelines that influencers should respect, which are:

• Transparency and disclosure of either the financial or family relationship with the brand, as the average consumer is neither able nor required to know this relationship 

• The use of the disclosure tools provided by social media is not considered sufficient to prevent them from being overlooked or misunderstood by consumers of the commercial partnership

• Avoiding unclear tags or otherwise #hashtags e.g. #thanks, #collab, #sp, #ambassador

• Not assuming that "Click for more" links are considered sufficient disclosure of the commercial relationship between the brand and the influencer. ( more here )

The Advertising Guidelines contained in the body of the Code of Federal Regulation (Code of Federal Regulation more  here) are updated and refreshed from time to time and are intended to fully inform consumers to protect them and promote fair competition.