Influencer Training & Certification: How Self-Regulation Is Shaping the Global Creator Economy

Influencer marketing continues to grow globally, but so do concerns around transparency, consumer trust, and responsible practices within the creator economy. In this episode, Training the Global Creator Economy, BBB National Programs’ Center for Industry Self-Regulation (CISR) brings together international advertising self-regulatory leaders to examine how influencer training and certification programs are evolving across global markets and identify the highest risk areas for content creators and brands.

Moderated by CISR’s Jennifer Santos, the discussion features representatives from the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS), the Netherlands’ Stichting Reclame Code (SRC), France’s Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP), and the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and offers a comparative look at how different countries approach influencer education, monitoring, and compliance. Panelists explore why responsible influencer marketing requires more than disclosure rules alone, how structured certification and training programs can help raise standards across the creator economy, and how this global approach is raising the bar for creators around the world.

Key topics include:
How influencer certification programs are designed and implemented globally
The role of advertising self-regulation in building consumer trust
Measuring the impact of influencer training and monitoring schemes
Emerging risks in the creator economy, including AI-generated content and cross-border campaigns
Lessons for markets considering new influencer education or certification initiatives

This episode provides valuable insight for brands, platforms, policymakers, and creators seeking to understand how global self-regulatory models can support ethical, transparent, and responsible influencer marketing.

Speakers:
Jennifer Santos, Program Development Manager, Institute for Responsible Influence, Center for Industry Self-Regulation
Sibylle Stanciu, Director, International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS)
Mohamed Mansouri, Deputy Director, Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP)
Otto van der Harst, Director, Stichting Reclame Code (SRC)
Manisha Kapoor, CEO & Secretary General, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

KEY THEMES
Brands and platforms need to be at the table
The top three risk areas for creators are health, finance, and AI
This is an area that requires constant evolution - even if the rules don’t change, their application evolves as the content and tech changes
Regulation will come if the industry doesn't act - this is a solution to handle the issue within industry
Global alignment is real and working which should give funders comfort knowing we're not going at this alone - we're checking our work and using models that have been tested and tried in other countries - and brands should find comfort knowing this is a program they can trust in, knowing it's not being built in a vacuum

Learn more about the Institute for Responsible Influence: https://responsibleinfluence.org/