Barn och reklam på sociala medier - Är skyddet för marknadsföring via sociala medier gentemot barn tillräckligt utifrån gällande svensk lagstiftning?

Sammanfattning: Every day, internet users are exposed to advertising, and social media advertising feeds are tailored to appeal to the interests of the individual user. Advertising on the internet is more difficult to identify, avoid, and critique compared to advertising in traditional media, this is because much of the advertising on the internet is embedded in non-commercial content such videos on internet platforms. It is permitted to direct marketing to children of all ages on the internet, for television and direct marketing there are special bans on children’s advertising. Children are not aware of a business's profit motive in the same way as adults are, which means that children are more easily influenced by advertising. The aim of this essay is to examine whether or not minors are sufficiently protected from social media marketing by current Swedish laws and legislations. Companies that sell products or services and those who help market them, such as social media influencers, are both responsible for ensuring that the MFL is followed. The validity requirement found in the MFL is strengthened for sensitive groups such as children. According to the MFL, advertising aimed at children must be clearly recognized as advertising for the average child. The MFL contains a ban on direct purchase encouragements aimed at children which implies that there are complications regarding children and marketing. Advertising should not directly encourage children to make purchases nor contain unclear or hidden advertising messages, this can seem paradoxical and ambiguous. The ICC’s rules are used when interpreting MFL, it states that parents are encouraged to be involved in their children's activities on the internet. Through digitization, social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube have the ability to mediate marketing. The platforms must uphold Swedish legislation and delete unauthorized material from their platforms, however, it is possible that stricter regulation would impose too much responsibility on respective platforms. Even if companies, influencers, parents, and platforms take their statutory responsibility, current legislation would be considered insufficient protection for children.