The Federal government of Nigeria, through the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), has requested skit makers, social media influencers and bloggers to acquire its approval before advertising any product or service online. The new regulation is in accordance with the terms of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and the ARCON Act, according to a public notice issued by ARCON on Monday, December 12, 2022.
ARCON declared that anyone found violating the Act will be subject to penalties and legal action.
ARCON reportedly said that concerns about unregulated commercials, ads, and marketing communications works of skit makers, comedians, influencers, content creators/producers, bloggers, and vloggers, among others in the digital realm, made it imperative to enforce the Act. This was said by ARCON in a statement that was signed by Olalekan Fadolapo, the Director-General. The majority of commercials created by skit creators, influencers, and others are unethical, contain false claims and misleading information, and violate the Code of Advertising Practice, argues the statement.
Skit makers, influencers, other embark on unethical adverts The notice said: “ARCON will take all necessary actions including sanctions and prosecution of violators of the Act’s provisions to ensure compliance.” In October 2022, ARCON brought a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp and its agent AT3 Resources Limited at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, saying that the social media platform has exposed unvetted and unverified adverts to the loss of revenue to the federal government.
