Instagram influencers under scrutiny in ACCC report

US style bible Vanity Fair’s take-down of Byron Bay Insta-Mums — centred around social media mum Courtney Adamo — might have made waves but it is understood rougher seas may be ahead for Australian influencers.

• Influencer breaks down over Instagram changes
• Opinion: ‘Likes’ ban good for mental health

US style bible Vanity Fair’s take-down of Byron Bay Insta-Mums — centred around social media mum Courtney Adamo — might have made waves but it is understood rougher seas may be ahead for Australian influencers.

The latest edition of the magazine calls out the privileged life of the Byron Bay “Murfers” (mum surfers) who are advertising their care­free lifestyle with sponsored posts online.

Influencer Courtney Adamo hits the surf.

Confidential understands the nation’s competition watchdog Rod Sims is well into a report which casts an eye over influencers who take payments to spruik events and products. More particularly, it is understood it has noted the move in the UK that took place this month in which it said anyone with over 30,000 social media followers was a “celeb­rity” and should be subject to advertising rules.

On July 3 the UK Advertising Standards Authority found a mummy blogger breached its rules when she promoted an over the counter sleeping sedative.

In April, News Corp revealed the Australian Com­petition and Consumer Commission was working with international authorities to look at influencers and a report could be out within months.

Influencer Mikaela Testa cries about the changes to likes on Instagram. Picture: MikaelaTesta/Instagram

The move was prompted by the global growth of Insta influencers reaching fever pitch.

Last year, there was a 40 per cent growth in posts by influencers around the world.

The ACCC’s latest move could be yet another nail in the influencer coffin, as last week Instagram announced they would be hiding how many “likes” posts get in an effort to stop the platform impacting people’s mental health.

The change will mean brands will not be able to monitor the success of a paid post as closely and is expected to result in a decrease in business.

Earlier this week self-professed social media influencer Mikaela Testa, who has fewer than 50,000 followers, hit out at Instagram after their latest change that removed likes from users’ profiles.

“If you think this is okay you can f**k off, it’s actually a sad day for those who have Instagram as a job,” Melbourne-based Testa wrote to her nearly 10000 followers on Facebook. “Regardless of what you may think Instagram is a REAL job and those in the industry have worked hard to get where they’re at. It’s people that aren’t even in the industry that think it’s a f**king joke. It’s not, it’s real damage out here.”