An Impossible Task: Enforcing Disclosure Requirements In A Multi-Billion Dollar Industry

Abstract

Users of the first global social network, MySpace, could have never imagined that a mere twenty years later, teenagers could be millionaires making thirty-second videos out of their parents’ basement. Social media platforms have blossomed and advanced to an unpredictable level in a short amount of time. The growth of TikTok, surpassing one billion users, has been one of the most substantial contributors to the change in landscape.[1] In 2025, “social media influencers” come in all shapes and sizes.[2] Social media users can scroll through Instagram reels and stumble upon their fellow PTA member, co-worker, or grandmother promoting a Maybelline mascara, Dyson vacuum, or Athletic Greens Powder. One likely trusts a vacuum recommendation from their grandmother, but does that trust dwindle if you find out grandma was paid to promote that product? [1] Jessica Bursztynsky, TikTok Says 1 Billion People Use the App Each Month, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/27/tiktok-reaches-1-billion-monthly-users.html (Sept. 27, 2021, 11:49 AM) [https://perma.cc/ZT89-VCBK]. [2] See Top Social Media Influencer Legal Issues, Couns. for creators (Nov. 21, 2022), https://counselforcreators.com/log/top-legal-issues-for-influencers/ [https://perma.cc/YP8Y-PKX9] (defining social media influencers as “digital creators with large followings that regularly create and offer content that educates, entertains, or engages their audience[;] . . . . use their platforms to set trends, increase their popularity, and often change popular social media culture[;] . . . . [and] serve as valuable assets for any company looking to advertise or market their brands using popular platforms.”)