Unfiltered advertising: Children in the world of influencer marketing
In the social media era, what we buy isn’t driven by television or billboards as much as it is by “likes,” “stories,” and recommendations from content creators followed by thousands or millions of internet users. Influencer marketing has become one of the most powerful selling tools in recent history. But that doesn’t mean that all forms of advertising are permissible on social media.
Polish law provides for special restrictions on messaging directed to certain target groups, including children, who require particular protection due to their age and stage of development. In this area the law doesn’t just demand transparency, but also imposes specific bans and restrictions, compliance with which is subject to real oversight by the public authorities.
Advertising targeted to children
For years, ads aimed at children have been subjected to close scrutiny by lawmakers. This is based on the assumption that as consumers, children do not possess a fully formed critical capacity to assess marketing messages, and thus are more susceptible to suggestion, pressure, and the influence of public figures.
In Poland, advertising directed to children is evaluated via the Unfair Commercial Practices Act and the Unfair Competition Act. There are also relevant provisions in the Broadcasting Act.
The Unfair Commercial Practices Act regards the inclusion in advertising of a direct invitation to children to purchase advertised products, or to persuade their parents or other adults to buy advertised products for them, as a prohibited aggressive commercial practice (Art. 9(5)).
The Unfair Competition Act regards advertising that appeals to the emotions of recipients by exploiting children’s gullibility as an act of unfair competition (Art. 16(1)(3)).
In turn, the Broadcasting Act prohibits commercial messages that directly encourage minors to purchase goods or services, encourage them to exert pressure on their parents, exploit their trust in parents, teachers or other persons, or unjustifiably show minors in dangerous situations (Art. 16b(2)(1)–(2)).
According to the legal literature (simplifying), an advertising message whose content, form or manner of presentation is characterised by an intense and legible inducement to buy, aimed directly at encouraging children to make a purchase, is prohibited. Significantly, the content of an ad is not relevant for finding that a practice is prohibited, only its effect.
As stated by M. Sieradzka in Unfair Commercial Practices Act: Commentary (Warsaw 2008), Art. 9, it is recognised that wording in an advertising message such as the following may, in particular, be regarded as impermissible direct invitation to a child to buy a product:
- Buy it
- Buy it and try it
- Buy it because everyone has it.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) warns influencers what sorts of actions are prohibited: “Do not persuade children to make purchases or encourage them to persuade adults to do so. Do not mislead children or exploit their trust.”
Direct invitation to buy—an easily blurred boundary
In practice, particular doubts are raised by influencers’ promotional materials and messaging during livestreams or dynamic video formats, such as “Run to the stores—the products are already on the shelves,” or “Stock up, because they’re going fast.” (In 2025 the regulator launched two investigations into ads directed to children, posted by popular gaming influencers. The analysis included the method of promoting products in entertainment content and the use of direct inducements to buy along with pressure tactics.)
Although at first blush these may give the impression of being informal, spontaneous statements, from the perspective of consumer law they could be classified as prohibited advertising, particularly if:
- The encouragement to buy is targeted to children or young people
- It is accompanied by an element of time pressure or limited availability of the product, or
- The influencer assumes the role of an authority or a person trusted by youngsters.
In evaluating content, it is not just the literal wording that can be relevant, but also the manner of presentation. Under the regulator’s current practice, the theme of the published materials and the actual audience group, the use of language appealing to children, embedding advertising within entertainment content, appealing to the need for approval of their peers, and the use of time pressure or stressing the limited availability of the product, can all be particularly relevant (press release from the president of UOKiK of 15 July 2026, “Pressuring children to buy: Charges brought against two YouTube influencers”).
Influencers’ informational duties
Regardless of whether advertising is directed to children, influencers have an obligation to clearly, legibly and unambiguously label commercial content. This requirement derives from the regulations on unfair commercial practices and from recommendations issued by the regulator in 2022.
Labelling of advertising must:
- Unambiguously inform the recipient that the content is commercial in nature
- Be visible and understandable at first glance, and
- Appear regardless of the format (post, report, film, livestream).
A lack of appropriate labelling is not only misleading to recipients, but in the case of content directed to children may also heighten the risk that the message will be found to be prohibited.
UOKiK activity—a trend that is hard to ignore
The last two years have witnessed a clear increase in actions by UOKiK against influencers and brands benefitting from their reach. Proceedings conducted by the office involve not only improper labelling of advertising, but also content that is potentially aggressive, misleading, or unlawfully targeted to children.
This trend should be regarded as just one aspect of a broader process of cleaning up the influencer marketing space and strengthening standards for transparency on social media. For content creators and advertisers, this demands increasing legal awareness, not only at the publication stage but also when framing the parties’ overall cooperation.
Patrycja Gierdal-Piotrowska, adwokat, Intellectual Property practice, Wardyński & Partners
