Influencers in Colombia: more rules, more responsibility… and perhaps, more trust

Being an influencer or content creator stopped being just about posting photos, making videos, or recommending something we love a long time ago.

Today, it can be a career, a business, a major source of income, and, in some cases, a powerful voice capable of inspiring the decisions of thousands or even millions of people.

And that is precisely why Colombia has been discussing how this industry should be regulated for some time now.

One of the most notable initiatives is Senate Bill 394 of 2025, introduced to regulate and promote digital content creation in Colombia. The proposal has already passed its first debate and received a positive recommendation to move forward, but let's make one thing clear from the start: it is still just a bill, not an active law.

Beyond what the final text turns out to be, this discussion raises an interesting question for those working professionally in social media:

What responsibilities come into play when our voice also becomes a business?

First: who would this apply to?

One of the key aspects of the bill is defining exactly who is considered a professional influencer or content creator.

The proposed text refers to individuals or legal entities that create, produce, and distribute digital content in a professional and systematic way, with editorial responsibility over what they publish.

This is crucial because not everyone with an Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, or any other social media account automatically becomes an influencer under this definition.

The focus is primarily on those who have turned content creation into an economic or professional activity: talent who monetize their audience, promote products or services, collaborate with brands, or hold significant influence within the digital ecosystem.

And that is probably the most sensible distinction.

It shouldn't be about regulating what an everyday person thinks or posts on their personal accounts.

It is about recognizing that when there is a commercial activity, commercial responsibilities naturally follow.

If you get paid to say it, say it

Perhaps the simplest principle to understand is also one of the most vital: transparency.

If a brand pays for a post, sends a product in exchange for promotion, or if there is any kind of commercial relationship behind a recommendation, your audience has the right to know.

The bill proposes precisely that sponsored or commercial content must be clearly identifiable to those who view it.

But this concept is nothing new.

Since 2020, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has recommended that influencers and advertisers clearly disclose the commercial relationships behind any post, avoiding presenting paid advertising as if it were a spontaneous, purely personal recommendation.

And it makes total sense.

Getting paid to recommend a product doesn't make that recommendation automatically insincere.

However, hiding that a commercial relationship exists completely changes the information your audience is receiving.

Keep it real with your audience

In reality, a big part of this entire conversation can be summed up in something wonderfully simple:

Don't mislead others.

Social media has introduced exciting new formats, but it hasn't changed the fundamental principles of a business relationship.

If you promote a product, its features must be real.

If you promise a result, you should be able to back up that claim.

If there is a major condition or catch, it shouldn't be hidden in microscopic fine print while the main message promises something completely different.

Colombian consumer protection law already establishes that commercial information is considered misleading when it induces or could induce error, affecting people's economic decisions. The SIC has also recently reiterated that advertising distributed through social media and digital platforms must be clear, sufficient, verifiable, and true to reality.

In other words, TikTok is not a separate principality where consumer protection laws vanish the moment you open the app.

With influence comes understanding the impact

The bill also introduces concepts of social responsibility, protection of minors, and the prevention of practices like disinformation, cyberbullying, and harmful content.

This is where the conversation gets a bit more complex.

Because regulating content should never be used as an excuse to restrict freedom of expression.

In fact, the bill's draft explicitly recognizes content creation as an expression of that freedom, stating that its regulation should not be interpreted as an undue limitation of this right.

But freedom of expression and responsibility are by no means incompatible.

You can share your opinion.

You can criticize.

You can share your experiences.

You can create comedy.

You can express ideas that others might completely disagree with.

It is a completely different story to use your audience to spread false commercial claims, present advertising as an independent opinion, or deliberately harm others with misleading information.

And then there is privacy

There is another responsibility that deserves just as much attention as advertising: respecting the privacy of others.

Working publicly online doesn't mean that everyone around a creator has consented to forfeit their privacy as well.

Family, partners, friends, colleagues, clients, and bystanders are still individuals with their own rights.

Colombia has robust personal data protection laws based on principles like purpose, freedom, accuracy, transparency, and restricted access to personal information. Generally speaking, processing personal data requires a legitimate purpose and, with few legal exceptions, the explicit authorization of the individual.

This doesn't mean that every accidental appearance of someone in the background of a photo is a legal violation.

The legal reality is much more nuanced.

But there is a professional golden rule that is easy to adopt even before consulting any legal code:

A person's audience doesn't give them ownership over other people's lives.

Exposing private conversations, personal data, intimate situations, or information about third parties simply to drive engagement should make us think twice.

Maybe three times.

Professionalizing is not censoring

There is a tendency to view any internet regulation as an automatic threat.

And there are very good reasons to carefully analyze any rule that could impact free speech.

But it is also important to recognize something else.

An industry begins to be treated professionally when it also embraces professional responsibilities.

Transparent advertising.

Truthful information.

Respect for consumers.

Protection of minors.

Respect for privacy.

Clarity on when we are sharing a genuine opinion and when we are selling a product.

None of this should weaken what creators do.

In fact, it makes your brand much more credible.

Trust is the ultimate currency

For those building a career around an audience, there is an asset that is far more valuable than your follower count:

your credibility.

You can buy ads.

You can boost your reach.

You can master the algorithms.

You can build a spectacular production setup.

But rebuilding trust once it's lost is a much harder climb.

That is why, regardless of how the Colombian bill progresses, there is one simple rule that doesn't need congress approval:

Be transparent with your audience. Respect the privacy of others. And never mislead the people who believe in you.

Not because a law might eventually force you to.

But because that is simply how you build a professional career that is built to last.

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Model: Jackson Stiffler