– I think it is very wrong. It seems that our society is such that men can do more and get away with it. Especially when it comes to the body, says Aurora Gude (30). She is one of many female influencers who have been complained to the Professional Committee for Influencer Marketing (FIM). The specialist committee must protect children and young people from physical pressure. But news’s review shows that FIM almost exclusively deals with cases about female influencers. Out of more than 50 decisions, only one is about a man. Gude believes young boys are too poorly protected against body pressure, compared to girls. – If the FIM itself had gone over profiles, with an equal number of men and women, they would have found a lot to worry about on the male front. The complaints that are taken up in the expert committee often concern advertising for protein powders, energy drinks, cosmetic procedures and dental treatments. In the cases where female influencers are dropped, the reason is often that they have many scantily clad photos on their profile. Sofie Karlstad was flagged for an advertisement for protein powder. She is well dressed in the advertisement for which she was flagged, but the committee believes that the advertisement may still lead to body pressure because she is scantily clad in many other photos and videos. Nicoline Devik was flagged for advertising for beta-carotene The committee attaches particular importance that Devik’s general profile appears very undressed and body-focused. Katinka Gange was flagged for advertising an energy drink The committee believes the image has an excessive focus on the body. Lots of male advertising Recently, news showed how young boys are drawn into a world of muscles and frequent weight changes on TikTok in a short time. A significant part of the videos we found were advertisements for protein powder, creatine and other types of dietary supplements. These were created by male fitness influencers, often with profiles full of shirtless videos focusing on muscle. And several of the male influencers who advertise are Norwegian. Nevertheless, none of them have been dropped in the FIM, shows an overview on the professional committee’s website. These are some examples of advertisements for nutritional supplements from Norwegian male fitness influencers on TikTok. Photo: Screenshots from TikTok Only complaints about women FIM was established in 2019. It is a self-justice scheme, run by the Advertisers’ Association and the Media Companies’ National Association. The professional committee deals with complaints from people who have seen advertising that they believe can lead to physical pressure on children and young people. FIM’s head of the secretariat, Håvard Kvernaas Bakken, agrees that young boys are too poorly protected against advertising that can create body pressure. He says the reason for the skewed gender distribution is that they mostly receive complaints that concern women. They have only received complaints about female influencers in 2022. – Overall, influencers have almost been synonymous with women, says Bakken. When asked by news, he replies that FIM will consider taking up cases itself, in addition to being a complaint body. – We don’t have the resources to vacuum the entire internet, but it makes sense to deal with issues that we see, and perhaps join a larger grouping. It is something we have considered and something we can take up again. Håvard Kvernaas Bakken in FIM says only 3 percent of the complaints they receive are about men. Photo: ANFO Annonsørforeningen – Big consequences Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) thinks it strange that FIM deals almost exclusively with cases about women. – I question that, because we know that many boys are exposed to body pressure and unfortunate marketing in social media. We see that this has major consequences for children and young people’s mental health, says Toppe. She believes this shows that there has been less focus on boys and girls when it comes to body pressure in social media. Toppe is pleased that the subject committee is now considering changes. – I think it should have been obvious that they could also have the opportunity to get involved in matters themselves. Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe says she will look at whether the current legislation hits the mark well enough. Photo: Morten Waagø / news Can result in fines The Marketing Act was recently amended so that body pressure is among the criteria to be assessed when looking at whether an advertisement aimed at children violates “good marketing practice”. Toppe believes it is important to show that there is legislation to protect children, in addition to the scheme with FIM. – The Marketing Act must protect children against advertising that contributes to body pressure. If an influencer breaks the law, the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority can intervene and issue sanctions. She says she will take a closer look at whether new measures are needed, and whether the law is followed up well enough. – We will also put forward a report to the Storting on Safe digital upbringing. There we will go through several aspects of this and the legislation, to see if we can make the regulations more accurate and give children and young people better protection, says Toppe. Promises changes Håvard Bakken in the FIM says they will now look at what they can do to contribute to a greater focus on young boys. The committee that deals with complaints in FIM is also very skewed in terms of gender. All six permanent representatives are women. Only one of the deputy representatives is a man. Now the head of the secretariat is promising changes. – We are going to change the composition of the group, so that it is more equally divided between women and men.
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Reacting to the differential treatment of women and men in the influencer industry – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
