Last month, China tightened its noose on influencers. This week, an Indian influencer demonstrated why. In a law enacted recently, China makes it mandatory for content creators to first possess a degree in the requisite field before dishing out advice on critical matters like finance, health, law and psychology. As for yet another Indian content creator hitting the headline for debatable reasons, Divija Bhasin, a counselling psychologist and content creator, added a denigrating slur in her bio, proudly reclaiming the insult. But why would anybody do that? “I would cringe at the word, but now I feel nothing. You see men call me that every single day in my comments. It’s just a word now. Earlier it used to refer to commercial sex workers and it became an insult. Which is ridiculous because the insult should be on the man. Now it’s used for any woman who has a voice, any woman who looks like she’s independent. If we stop finding this word insulting, men will lose the power to use it as an insult. I no longer find this word hurtful,” justifies Bhasin in one of the pinned posts on her profile.
While she found the reasons to own-up the R word, she forgot the repercussions it could carry. A hashtag that was intended to take away the taboo, unfortunately became a trend that impressionable minds caught onto. In no time, girls — young and gullible, were proudly claiming the slur in their bios. Not just debate and outrage but a complaint under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, accusing Bhasin of “Influencing minors” followed.
The slur, unfortunately used recurrently by trolls, or online abusers for women who express their opinions fearlessly or do not fit into conventional norms, was meant to stop carrying all insinuations of an insult. However, it did not quite pan out as planned or intended. While Bhasin, who often uses her platform to talk about mental health issues, has listed her credentials and qualifications in the bio, there are several content creators in India, who continue to dole out advice from misinformed opinions and questionable credentials and sometimes complete lack of qualifications.
An exponential rise in reel experts
Nomenclatures like mental coach, life coach, happiness coach, wellness coach, legal expert, health guru, parental adviser are used generously and regulated hardly. This year in January, in an attempt to regulate ‘finfluencers’ (a term coined for finance influencers), the SEBI issued guidelines introducing heavy restrictions on registered market intermediaries prohibiting them from collaborating with unregistered financial influencers in an attempt to regulate unverified investment tips and safeguard investor interests.
However, still notable lacunas exist in the legal system and are not nearly enough to safeguard the millions of Indians scrolling through reels every day and taking mental, financial, health advice from unregistered unqualified ‘experts’.
Several research studies have been conducted on how the dangers of unlicensed influencers entail from dubious advice to questionable quick-fix healing methods. As per a recent study led by University of Sydney, influencers are promoting “overwhelmingly” misleading information about medical tests on Instagram and TikTok.
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Analysing about 1,000 posts on five controversial medical screening tests that had been promoted to almost 200 million followers collectively, the study found that most posts had no reference to scientific evidence and failed to mention potential harm. A reputed medical professional associated with a recognised body would never do that, opine critics. Co-researcher Dr Ray Moynihan, assistant professor at Bond university, said, “These findings suggest social media is an open sewer of medical misinformation.”
Lacunas in the legal system
China’s law aims to combat misinformation and protect the public from quackery and harmful advice. Online content regulation is still an elementary and a grey area in India, with influencer marketing being governed by guidelines issued under Central Consumer Protection Authority. A law that is not nearly comprehensive enough to monitor influencers from becoming self-appointed ‘experts, coaches, gurus, guides, mentors, advisers.’ While those with noteworthy experience in the field make a screeching loud mention of it, several others are winging it without any formal education or professional training.
Those from the industry point out that India’s creator economy is way too large to be single-handedly and completely monitored by a central watch-dog. Eventually consumers themselves have to be prudent and discretionary enough in who they take advice from.
According to a report published in May by Boston Consulting Group, there are over 2 million monetised content creators who reportedly influence more than $350 billion in consumer spending in the country. That’s an astronomical number and when quantified, it only means the temptation to resort to click bait engagement on the part of content creators is even more. Until a concrete, effectively-implemented and strictly-regulated law is in place, consumers can fill in the lacuna and plug the loopholes. Next time, don’t just click links, also check credentials in the bio.
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