The master’s thesis »Legal Aspects of Influencer Advertising on Social Media« examines the legal regulation of influencer advertising on social media and the adequacy of the existing Slovenian and European legal framework in ensuring transparency of advertising content and consumer protection. The aim of the thesis was to analyse legal acts, self-regulatory mechanisms and comparative legal solutions of selected European countries in order to determine whether influencer advertising in Slovenia is insufficiently regulated and whether a special legal regulation would be appropriate. The analysis was based on a review of Slovenian and European legislation, academic literature, self-regulatory acts of the advertising industry and a comparative review of the regulations of selected Member States. Special attention was given to hidden advertising, transparency of commercial content and the role of social media platforms as intermediaries of advertising content. The study showed that influencers, due to the relationship of trust established with their followers, have a significant influence on consumer decisions, which increases the risk of misleading commercial practices. It was established that the Slovenian and European legal framework already contains many rules prohibiting hidden advertising and requiring clear identification of advertising content; however, the regulation is dispersed among different legal acts and is therefore often unclear in practice. The comparative legal analysis showed that most European countries regulate influencer advertising similarly to Slovenia, mainly through general rules of consumer and media law. France represents an exception with its special legislation, which has not proven to be a significant improvement of the regulation, but rather a duplication of already existing rules. The thesis concludes that complete transparency of influencer advertising will probably not be achievable due to the rapid development of digital platforms and changing forms of online communication. Therefore, in the future, effective consumer protection will depend not only on efficient supervision, but also on greater awareness among social media users themselves.
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