Corporate Legal Responsibilities in Influencer Marketing Communications on Social Media

Abstract

The development of digital marketing has made companies increasingly deliver promotional messages through personal influencer accounts. This communication model broadens the reach of messages, but simultaneously blurs the lines between personal influencer communications and communications representing corporate interests. This study analyzes the construction of corporate legal liability for influencer marketing content that potentially violates the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE), as well as its relationship to the Indonesian Advertising Ethics (EPI). The study uses normative legal methods with statutory and conceptual approaches. Legal materials were collected through document studies, then classified based on issues of electronic information, consumer protection, corporate liability, and advertising ethics. The results of the study show that corporate accountability can move through criminal, civil and administrative channels. The main obstacle lies in the influencer's relationship as an independent contractor, so contractual status alone is not enough to determine liability. The study proposes parameters for the degree of corporate control over message substance, which can be tracked through script approvals, creative direction, correspondence, claim guidelines, and upload approval mechanisms. In addition, the EPI provides more detailed advertising transparency standards, particularly regarding the identification of paid content, but its ethical enforcement is different from that of legal instruments. The findings were used to develop a four-layer Digital Ethics Compliance framework that encompasses governance, contractual clauses, implementation oversight, and audit and remediation.