Will the Government Push For ‘Truth’ In Social-Media Marketing?

According to an article in Forbes the Federal Trade Commission is moving to regulate social-media advertising.

The FTC is planning to hold marketers liable for false statements published on blogs and social networks—meaning companies or bloggers could get sued for saying a product was good if it really wasn’t.

“Word-of-mouth marketing is not exempt from the laws of truthful advertising,” Richard Cleland, the assistant director for the FTC’s division of advertising practices, told the FT.

But in a letter to the FTC, 4A’s vice-president Richard O’Brien argued that the proposed regulations were too harsh—and that “bloggers and other viral marketers will be discouraged from publishing content for fear of being held liable for any potentially misleading claim.”

Do you think that the threat of a FTC review will spook advertisers who are already fearful of tapping social media? Will the FTC carry through on its threat to hold marketers liable for false statements published on blogs and social networks?