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ASCI report has raised questions on the transparency of social media influencers. 76% of the country’s digital stars ignored the rules of sharing their paid content. Most of such cases were found on Meta platform. Sectors like betting and healthcare were full of rule breakers. The report shows that trust in online advertising will only be maintained if influencers are honest about which posts are advertising and which are not.
New Delhi. If you see a post from your favorite influencer on social media, it may be an advertisement, but you may not even realize it. In fact, the latest report of the Advertising Standards Council (ASCI) has revealed that 76% of India’s top digital stars did not disclose in their sponsored posts that they were doing paid promotions.
According to the ASCI report, 97% of all wrong or rule-breaking advertisements detected between April and September 2025 came from digital platforms. Of these, the highest number of cases is around 79%. Meta (Instagram, Facebook), whereas the share of such ads on Google was less than 5%.
Why is this being considered a serious matter?
ASCI says that when an influencer promotes a product or brand without disclosure, people think that he is giving their true opinion. This deceives the followers and reduces the transparency of the advertisement. The organization said it “sets a bad example for trust and integrity in online advertising.”
In which sector there is maximum disturbance?
The report said that the highest number of violations occurred in illegal betting sites, healthcare, food, education and personal care sectors. Many influencers did not tag “paid partnership” or “advertising” while creating content on these topics.
ASCI investigated a total of 6,841 complaints in six months, in which 6,117 advertisements were found to be incorrect or incomplete. 98% of these ads needed changes. The organization also said that compared to last year, this time there has been an increase of 70% in complaints and 102% increase in checked advertisements.
Betting aids are highest, coordination with government increased
According to ASCI report, betting advertisements alone were more than 4,500. The organization said that now monitoring has been increased and strict action is being taken against fake and misleading advertisements in collaboration with departments like Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
