# Influencer Advertising Labelling: Rules in the Czech Republic and the EU URL: https://socialboostexpert.com/blog/influencer-advertising-labelling Updated: 2026-10-31 > When an influencer's post is an advertisement, how to label it under Czech laws and platform rules, who is liable for unlabelled advertising, and what fines may apply. Home / Blog / Safety and rules Safety and rules ## Labelling Advertising by Influencers: What the Law in the Czech Republic and the EU Says and How to Proceed Paid partnerships, brand gifts and affiliate links: when it counts as advertising, how to label it correctly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and who is responsible for an error. The Social Boost editorial team · Published October 31, 2026 · Last reviewed October 31, 2026 · 9 min read ### In short - A post for which you receive money, a product or another benefit is generally a commercial communication and must be clearly recognisable as advertising. - The basic rules are set out in the zákon o ochraně spotřebitele and the zákon o regulaci reklamy, which are based on EU regulations. - Instagram, TikTok and YouTube each have their own tool for labelling paid partnerships, and its use is required, but you are also responsible for compliance with the law. - The author of the advertising content is liable together with the advertiser, and businesses face fines of up to CZK 5 million. - This article is general information, not legal advice; please verify any specific collaboration with an expert. Yes. If you receive money, a product or another benefit for a post, it is generally a commercial communication that must be clearly recognisable as advertising. In the Czech Republic this stems mainly from the zákon o ochraně spotřebitele and the zákon o regulaci reklamy. In practice, this means enabling the platform's paid partnership tool and labelling the advertisement clearly, also in Czech, in the text or video. This article summarises general information based on the state of regulations and platform help pages as of October 2026. It is not legal advice; for a specific collaboration or contract, please consult a lawyer or the relevant authority. ### When is an influencer's post an advertisement? A post is an advertisement when its purpose is to promote someone's business, typically the sale of goods or services, and you receive some consideration for it. The content and the relationship with the brand are decisive, not what you call the post. Zákon č. 40/1995 Sb., o regulaci reklamy Under § 1(2), the Advertising Regulation Act defines advertising as “a notice, demonstration or other presentation disseminated in particular through communication media, with the aim of supporting business activity”. The act expressly includes video-sharing platform services and computer networks, i.e. social networks, among communication media. Typical situations in which a post must be labelled: - Paid cooperation: a brand pays you for a post, video, Stories or a mention. - Product or service for free (barter): Instagram in its guidance for creators states that the paid partnership label is required if you receive any reward for content, and that anything received from a business partner counts, whether money or other benefits, such as gifts or trips. - Affiliate links and discount codes: if you receive a share of sales, you have a commercial interest in the promotion, and it is reasonable to label the content in the same way. - Promoting your own company or products: the Advertising Regulation Act provides that whoever prepares advertising for themselves is also in the position of the client. The commercial purpose should be clear from the post. If you buy the product yourself and the brand gives you nothing for the mention, it is usually not a paid partnership. However, if you have another relationship with the brand (long-term cooperation, ambassadorship, family business), it is fair to disclose it. ### Which laws in the Czech Republic and the EU regulate the labelling of advertising? Two Czech acts play the main role, implementing European rules on unfair commercial practices. Large video creators may also be subject to the Act on On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services. Legislation What matters for influencers Who supervises Act No. 634/1992 Coll., on Consumer Protection Annex No. 1, point (j), lists as always misleading a practice in which a trader “uses editorial content in the media to promote a product or service for payment without the consumer being able to clearly identify from the content, images or sounds that it is advertising”. Czech Trade Inspection Authority (§ 23) Zákon č. 40/1995 Sb., o regulaci reklamy § 2(1)(b) prohibits advertising that constitutes an unfair commercial practice; § 6b specifies who is responsible for advertising. RRTV for advertising in video-sharing platform services; in other cases, regional trade licensing offices (§ 7) Act No. 132/2010 Coll., on On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services Applies only to influencers who meet all the criteria of an on-demand audiovisual media service. RRTV EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices The European foundation of the rules on misleading and covert advertising. National authorities; the interpretation is provided by the European Commission The European Commission operates a resource on this topic: Influencer Legal Hub , a collection of training videos, legal summaries and overviews of regulations for influencers, agencies and brands. It also includes a checklist to help you verify when an influencer becomes a trader under European law, and materials on how to label collaborations. Distinguish between two levels: the law sets out obligations and authorities impose sanctions, whereas platform rules are contractual terms whose breach is handled by the platform. This difference is described in more detail in the article Is it legal to buy followers? The law vs. platform rules . ### How to properly label advertising on social media? Advertising is properly labelled when the viewer immediately and without clicking through recognises that it is paid promotion and for whom. The law does not prescribe a specific word or hashtag; clarity is what matters. - Enable the platform's tool for a paid partnership or commercial content, and tag the partner if the platform allows it. - Write it in Czech and put it at the beginning. For example, "Advertisement" or "Paid partnership with a brand..." in the first sentence of the caption, not only after the "more" link. - Say it in the video and show it too. The label should be visible or audible right at the start, not only in the caption below the video. - For Stories, label every segment , in which the product appears, because the viewer may not see all of them. - Avoid unclear abbreviations and hashtags hidden among dozens of others that not everyone may understand. - Do not make false claims. Under Section 7b of the Advertising Regulation Act, the authority may require the advertiser to provide evidence of the accuracy of factual claims in the advertisement. - Agree in writing with the brand , who is responsible for the labelling. Under Section 7a, the advertiser must keep a copy of each advertisement for at least 5 years from its last dissemination. ### What tools do platforms offer for paid partnerships? Instagram, TikTok and YouTube each have a built-in feature that adds a paid partnership label to a post, and their policies require its use. However, the platform tool does not replace your legal obligation: YouTube explicitly states that both creators and their partners are responsible for complying with legal requirements. Platform Tool What the platform states (status as of October 2026) Instagram Paid partnership label Add it if you receive any reward for the content, including products or trips ( Instagram for Creators ). TikTok Toggle for disclosing commercial content If the content promotes or reviews another brand's products in return for payment or other incentive, you must turn it on; the video is then labelled automatically ( Branded Content Policy ). YouTube Checkbox for paid promotion in YouTube Studio Applies to product placement, sponsorship and endorsements; viewers will see a notice at the beginning of the video ( YouTube Help ). The names of features and their location within the app change, so please check the current procedure in the platform's help section. Combine the platform label with a clear designation in the text or video so that the advertisement remains recognisable even where the label is not prominently displayed. ### Who is responsible for undisclosed advertising, and what sanctions apply? Both the influencer and the brand bear responsibility. Under § 6b of the Advertising Regulation Act, the creator is fully liable for the content of an advertisement if they created it for themselves; if they created it for someone else, the creator and the client are liable “jointly and severally” for compliance with the law. The disseminator is responsible for the manner of dissemination. - The client is the party that ordered the advertisement, typically a brand or e-shop. - The creator is the party that produced the advertisement, often the influencer themselves or an agency. - The disseminator is the party that publicly disseminates the advertisement; for a post on their own profile, this is again the influencer. Sanctions under the law (status as of October 2026): - Under § 8a of the Advertising Regulation Act a legal entity or self-employed natural person that commissions, creates or disseminates an advertisement constituting an unfair commercial practice may be fined up to CZK 5 million. - Under § 24(22)(e) Consumer Protection Act a breach of the prohibition on unfair commercial practices may be fined up to CZK 5 million. For coordinated European procedures under Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, fines of up to 4% of total annual turnover apply. - Under § 7c of the Advertising Regulation Act, the authority may also order the removal of an advertisement or the publication of a corrective statement in the same medium. In addition, the platform may take action against undisclosed content under its own rules. ### When does RRTV supervision apply to an influencer? RRTV supervises advertising on video-sharing platform services. In addition, some large video creators may be providers of on-demand audiovisual media services and must be registered in the list maintained by RRTV. According to RRTV opinion of 29 April 2025 all of the following criteria must be met at the same time, including: - the main purpose of the channel is providing programmes to the public from a catalogue that the creator has curated editorially (automatic sorting by the platform does not count), - an average of 500,000 views per video on a single platform per year and at the same time at least 52 published videos on a single platform per year, - annual revenue from this activity exceeds the minimum threshold stated in the opinion, - the creator is established in the Czech Republic. According to RRTV, a channel whose primary purpose is the promotion of products or services is not an on-demand audiovisual media service. If you are approaching the stated values, please verify your situation directly with RRTV. ### How does ad disclosure relate to buying followers? These are two different matters: ad disclosure is governed by law, while buying engagement is mainly governed by platform rules. In its spam policies prohibits the sale, purchase or exchange of engagement, such as likes, shares, views or follows. Restricting reach or the account when purchased therefore cannot be ruled out, and they expressly state this also in their terms of service (Art. 3.3) . Purchased followers do not replace content, do not bring audience interest or sales, and do not guarantee reach. They can also worsen the ratio of interactions to followers, i.e. engagement rate , by which brands often select collaborations. If you present profile statistics to a brand, always report them truthfully. ### When paid promotion makes sense and when it does not? A package can help as an initial social proof for a new profile with good content, or as a supplement to a specific campaign alongside your own work on posts. It makes no sense if you have nothing to offer in your content, if you want to meet monetisation or verification requirements, if the account already has a warning or restriction, or if you expect sales and audience reactions. If you decide to promote, you can find an overview of options, for example, at the service followers on Instagram and current prices in price list . The page that answers the most frequent order questions is frequently asked questions . ### Frequently asked questions #### Do I have to label a product that a brand sent me for free as an advertisement? If you receive a product from a brand and publish a post about it, it constitutes consideration and therefore generally a commercial collaboration. Instagram's help page for creators explicitly states that anything received from a business partner counts, whether money or other benefits such as gifts or trips. It is therefore safer to label such a post with the platform's tool and also clearly in the text. #### Is the hashtag #ad or #spoluprace enough to label an advertisement? The law does not prescribe any specific hashtag. What matters is that viewers clearly recognise it as an advertisement. A hashtag hidden among others, or an English abbreviation, may not achieve this. It is recommended to enable the platform's paid partnership tool and to write at the beginning of the text or video, in Czech, for example „Reklama“ or „Placená spolupráce se značkou…“. #### Who pays the fine for unlabelled advertising, the brand or the influencer? Under § 6b of the zákon o regulaci reklamy, the producer and the advertiser are jointly and severally liable for the advertisement's compliance with the law if the advertisement was created for someone else. The influencer is usually both producer and disseminator, and the brand is the advertiser. Penalties may therefore apply to both parties. Check the specific allocation of liability with a lawyer and address it in the contract. #### Where to report hidden advertising on social media? Unfair commercial practices towards consumers are supervised by the Česká obchodní inspekce. Advertising in video-sharing platform services (such as YouTube or TikTok) is supervised under the zákon o regulaci reklamy by the Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání, and in other cases by the krajské živnostenské úřady. You can also report a post directly to the platform via its content reporting tool. #### Is an affiliate link or discount code an advertisement? If you receive a commission from sales made through your link or code, you have a commercial interest in the promotion, and the post serves to promote the sale of third-party goods. This corresponds to the general definition of advertising in the zákon o regulaci reklamy. Such content should therefore reasonably be labelled in the same way as any other paid partnership, and the relationship with the brand should be stated clearly. ### Want to give your profile a head start? Choose a package for your platform. We never ask for your password, the order takes two minutes and delivery starts after payment. See packages and prices Not sure which package fits? Write to us on WhatsApp or by e-mail and we will recommend one. WhatsApp · info@socialboostexpert.com ### Sources - Zákon č. 40/1995 Sb., o regulaci reklamy – Zákony pro lidi (checked October 31, 2026) - Zákon č. 634/1992 Sb., o ochraně spotřebitele – Zákony pro lidi (checked October 31, 2026) - Influencer Legal Hub – Evropská komise (checked October 31, 2026) - Stanovisko k výkladu zákonných kritérií rozlišujících služby influencerů jako AVMSnV (29. 4. 2025) – Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání (checked October 31, 2026) - Branded content – Instagram for Creators (checked October 31, 2026) - Branded Content Policy – TikTok (checked October 31, 2026) - Placená propagace na YouTube – Nápověda YouTube (checked October 31, 2026) - Spam – Zásady komunity, Meta Transparency Center (checked October 31, 2026) Prepared by our editorial team with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Platform rules change: always check the current wording at the source. This article was translated with AI assistance. The sources are in their original language. ### Related articles Safety and rules Free Followers: How Apps and Websites Work and What Risks You Face Free follower apps usually ask for your password or your activity. We explain how they work, what platform rules say about them, and how to secure your account if you have already tried them. October 31, 2026 · 6 min read Safety and rules Instagram has restricted your account: what to do, how to appeal and how to prevent it Restricted actions, a removed post or a deactivated account: where to find the reason, how to submit a review request and what to write in it, and how to prevent further restrictions. October 31, 2026 · 6 min read Safety and rules How to Avoid Being Scammed When Buying Followers: Warning Signs and a Checklist How to recognise a suspicious seller of followers, likes and views, what rights you have when buying online, and what to do if nothing arrives after payment. October 31, 2026 · 7 min read