Europe’s next digital consumer law should expose more than sponsored posts. In a letter to the European Commission, a coalition of civil society organisations argues the Digital Fairness Act should also require disclosure when influencers earn money directly from platforms through subscriptions, bonuses, gifts or affiliate programmes.
In a letter sent on Monday, 15 organisations, academics and digital rights advocates — including AlgorithmWatch, Bits of Freedom, Check My Ads, Corporate Europe Observatory, Global Forum for Media Development and WHAT TO FIX — urged the Commission to ensure the upcoming Digital Fairness Act reflects the full range of ways creators make money online. They argue consumers deserve a clearer picture of the commercial incentives behind the content they see.
Expected in the third quarter of 2026, the Digital Fairness Act aims to tackle dark patterns, addictive design, misleading influencer marketing, unfair pricing practices and subscription traps.
“As platforms payouts become increasingly central to the creator economy, transparency rules need to evolve alongside them.”
— Belen Luna Sanz, Policy Manager at WHAT TO FIX
Explaining the rationale behind the proposal, Belen Luna Sanz, Policy Manager at WHAT TO FIX, told EU Perspectives: “Consumers deserve to understand the commercial incentives behind the content they consume. That principle should apply equally whether the money comes from a company paying for promotion or from the platform rewarding engagement”.
More transparent influencer marketing
Current influencer marketing rules focus on the traditional advertising model, where brands pay creators to promote products in exchange for disclosure. But the signatories argue this no longer reflects how the creator economy operates, as platforms increasingly reward creators directly through their own monetisation programmes.
These monetisation models include paid subscriptions, fan donations, affiliate marketing, branded partnerships and platform-funded bonuses.
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“The Digital Fairness Act is an opportunity to future-proof transparency rules. Regulation needs to reflect how online content is monetised today and how it is evolving, not how it was monetised five years ago”, Luna Sanz told us, referring to the timing of the letter.
The coalition is calling for four new transparency measures:
- labels identifying content that benefits from platform monetisation;
- labels showing when creators participate in monetisation programmes;
- public libraries disclosing participants in platform payout schemes; and
- greater transparency about platforms’ monetisation rules, moderation practices and enforcement.
A $250 billion industry
A creator can now earn money through product commissions, livestream gifts, paid subscriptions, fan donations, platform bonuses or engagement-based reward schemes. This means content can be commercially incentivised even when there is no visible sponsor.
“As platforms payouts become increasingly central to the creator economy, transparency rules need to evolve alongside them. Our recommendations aim to ensure that consumers remain informed, researchers can provide oversight, and trust in the online information environment is strengthened”, Luna Sanz said.
The global creator economy is estimated to be worth around $250 billion, and its business model is rapidly evolving. Platforms increasingly allow creators to earn income directly through subscriptions, gifts, bonuses and integrated shopping features such as TikTok Shop, reducing their reliance on traditional brand sponsorships.
In the US, creators can start earning affiliate commissions with as few as 1,000 followers, typically receiving between 10 and 30 per cent of each sale. Family and lifestyle content has also become a lucrative business: successful motherhood influencers can earn up to $25,000, while the biggest family vlogging channels on YouTube are estimated to generate as much as $200,000 a month.
And the issue extends beyond consumer protection.
Lifestyle content, including “momfluencer” and “tradwife” accounts, can blend commercial incentives with political or ideological messaging, making transparency over how creators are rewarded increasingly important.
