Social media have become omnipresent in our contemporary society. Initially conceived as networks for connecting friends and acquaintances, their immense popularity has led to their increasing use for commercial purposes.

The practice of social media influencing has brought about unprecedented legal issues. In the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing, both influencers themselves and legal practitioners need legal clarity with regard to the various aspects of this relatively recent phenomenon. During a conference in Ghent in December 2023, a group of enthusiastic researchers decided to pool their knowledge on this contentious  matter.

Each analysing the phenomenon from their own expertise, the researchers of the Department of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business Law all contributed their piece to a comprehensive analysis of the multiple faces of social media marketing.

Going beyond mere conference proceedings, this book contains a collection of all the analyses, complemented with additional chapters. The result of this group effort is a transversal work that scrutinises all legal aspects of social media influencing.

The authors will discuss the following topics:

• Julie Kerckaert | Influencer Marketing Meets Consumer Protection: The Role of the Rules on Unfair Commercial Practices in Regulating Social Media Influencers
• Floris Mertens & Julie Goetghebuer | Virtual Reality, Real Responsibility: The Regulatory Landscape for Virtual Influencers
• Jasper Vereecken | Keep Calm and Obey the Watchdog? Public Authority Supervision on Influencer Market Practices in Belgium
• ●     Niels Rogge & Sinan Vanden Eynde | The Legal Implications of Disclaimers Used by Finfluencers
• ●     Nadia Feci | The Show Must Go On(line): The Regulation of Influencers Under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive
• ●     Valerie Verdoodt | The Privacy Implications of Child(-targeted) Influencer Content on Digital Platforms
• ●     Julie Kerckaert | The Labour Behind the Likes: The Belgian Child Labour Regulations in the Context of Kidfluencers
• ●     Simon Geiregat | Influencer Marketing & #IP: Content Ownership and Infr'influencers
• ●     Gauthier Vandenbossche & Tobias Van Royen | Influencers' Income Under the Special Copyright Tax Regime: Fifty Shades of Grey
• ●     Felix Desmyttere | The Taxman Is Now Following You! Digital Content Platforms And The European Tax Information Reporting Framework (DAC7)

• ●     Stijn Debie | Social Mediatisation after Death