10 influencers from Romania were monitored by the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), as part of a larger, international monitoring action, organized by the International Network for the Protection and Enforcement of Consumer Protection Legislation (ICPEN), which took place between March 23 and April 8, 2026. The institutions monitoring revealed that all the influencers analyzed published content of a commercial nature.
In the case of some of them, however, posts that represented advertisements or commercial collaborations were not consistently marked, and, in many cases, mentions of advertising were insufficiently highlighted, so that they could easily go unnoticed by consumers. 70% use AI-generated content and do not say ANPC agents also wanted to see the degree of use of content generated or modified with the help of artificial intelligence. The result: 70% of influencers who used such materials did not inform the public that the images or content were made with the help of AI technologies, which reduces the level of transparency in communication with followers.
The results in Romania are similar to those found globally As part of the action coordinated by ICPEN, 228 influencers from several countries were verified. Of these, 92% published commercial content, but only one in five properly marked the advertising nature of the posts. ANPC emphasizes that, in a digital economy where influencer recommendations can influence consumers purchasing decisions, transparency in the promotion of products and services is an essential condition for protecting the interests of the public and for maintaining trust in online communities.