CYPRUS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Stelios Christophides and Vasilis Charalambous, George Z. Georgiou & Associates LLC
Influencers Influencer marketing has evolved significantly over the past decade, becoming a powerful tool in today’s digi - tal landscape, allowing brands to connect with audi - ences in a more personal and relatable way. However, as influencers shape consumer perceptions and influ - ence purchasing decisions, concerns have emerged around transparency, authenticity, and the potential for fraudulent and misleading content. Without clear guidelines, the blending of personal content with paid promotions poses risks, making it difficult for consum - ers to distinguish genuine recommendations. Currently, Cyprus does not have legislation tackling the use of influencers in advertising campaigns. However, with digital marketing’s rapid expansion, the Cyprus Advertising Regulation Organisation has introduced influencer marketing guidelines to promote transpar - ency and accountability for both influencers and con - sumers. As advertising and content often overlap, it is essential that consumers can easily identify when they are being targeted for commercial purposes. Influencers are now required to clearly disclose the intent of their content, ensuring that it is immediately noticeable and easy to understand for all audiences, including adults and children. Moreover, disclosure must be communicated to the public, rather than being restricted to a particular audience – eg, followers of a specific influencer who may already be aware of their relationship with a brand through previous posts or activities. Therefore, the public must be informed of the existing relationship or agreement between the two parties (advertiser and influencer) every time a message is displayed. Lastly, influencers are respon - sible for using tools to maintain transparency such as “paid partnership” and “sponsored by” tags. More recently, the CPS imposed an administrative fine of EUR2,000 to an influencer who, with his posts in question, falsely created the impression that he was not acting for purposes related to his commercial activity or falsely impersonating the consumer. The CARO Pre-Check The Cyprus Advertising Regulation Organisation, which is a self-regulatory body of the communica - tion industry in which advertisers, their advertising
schemes will not be permitted (unless at EU level), and new private schemes will require higher environmental standards and pre-approval. Personal Data and the e-Privacy Directive In recent years the ePrivacy Regulation has reinforced the GDPR and the rules on the processing of personal data by providing specific provisions on electronic communications. The GDPR and the e-Privacy Direc - tive are two of the most important pieces of legisla - tion governing data privacy in the EU and have had a significant impact on the advertising industry as they have made it more difficult for advertisers to collect and use personal data without users’ consent. The GDPR requires organisations to have a legal basis before collecting or processing users’ personal data. This means that advertisers can no longer rely on pre- checked boxes or other passive forms of consent. Instead, they must provide users with clear and con - cise information about how their data will be used and must obtain their consent before collecting it. The e-Privacy Directive complements the GDPR by regulating the use of cookies and other tracking tech - nologies. The Directive requires websites to obtain users’ consent before storing or accessing informa - tion on their devices. This means that advertisers can no longer use cookies to track users across different websites without their consent. The impact of the GDPR and e-Privacy Directive on advertising has been mixed. On the one hand, the regulations have made it more difficult for advertisers to collect and use personal data, which has led to a decline in targeted advertising. On the other hand, the regulations have also forced advertisers to become more transparent about how they use data and to afford users more control over their privacy. Overall, the GDPR and e-Privacy Directive have had a positive impact on consumer privacy in the EU. However, they have also made it more challenging for advertisers to reach their target audiences. Advertis - ers have had to adapt their strategies to comply with the new regulations, which has led to some changes in the way that ads are created and delivered.
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