Rules and ethics
Part of Community management rules and ethics in England
When a community post counts as advertising and how to record the approval
Check community advertising in England for commercial control, clear identification, substantiated claims, hidden incentives and review practices.
Advertising can appear in a community through staff posts, paid placements, affiliate links, sponsored events, rewarded recommendations or member reviews. Use this checklist to identify the commercial relationship and obtain an appropriate compliance decision before material goes live. It is not legal advice.
What to take away
- This article covers England and UK-wide rules. The ASA enforces the CAP Code and the CMA enforces the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Devolved or non-UK rules may differ.
- Record who created and approved content, and identify any payment, gift or incentive before it goes live.
- Disclosure must sit where people encounter the claim, not in a profile biography or expanded text.
- Hold suitable evidence for every objective claim, including implied comparisons, before publication.
- Fake and undisclosed incentivised reviews are banned under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
Identify marketing communications
- Record who created the content and who approved it.
- Identify payment, commission, gifts, discounts, free access or another incentive.
- Check whether a marketer controls the content.
- Distinguish a genuine member contribution from material commissioned or edited for promotion.
- Reassess when an ordinary contributor becomes an ambassador, employee or affiliate.
Section 2 of the CAP Code concerns recognition of marketing communications. Do not assume that the name of a branded group makes every advertisement obvious, particularly when promotional material resembles ordinary discussion.
Is it a marketing communication?
Is there payment, gift, discount or free access?
Record incentive and reassess control
Check if marketer controls the content
Make identification immediate
- Put the disclosure where people encounter the claim.
- Use wording that communicates advertising plainly.
- Check the first screen, preview and mobile view.
- Repeat disclosure when a format separates later material from the opening label.
- Do not rely on a profile biography or a disclosure reached only after expanding text.
ASA and CAP guidance on recognising social media and influencer advertising discusses clear and prominent labelling. It was updated in August 2026 and expressly notes that CAP advice is not legal advice. Apply the relevant Code and current guidance to the actual format.
Make identification immediate
- Put disclosure where people encounter the claim
- Use wording that communicates advertising plainly
- Check first screen, preview and mobile view
- Repeat disclosure when format separates later material
- Do not rely on profile biography or expanded text
Substantiate the message
- Identify every objective claim, including implied comparisons.
- Hold suitable evidence before publication.
- Preserve important qualifications near the claim.
- Confirm that testimonials reflect the person's real view and relevant experience.
- Do not describe a community outcome as typical without evidence for that conclusion.
CAP Code Section 3 (Misleading advertising), including rule 3.7, requires evidence for objective claims. Section 8 (Promotional marketing) applies to incentives and prize promotions. Moderators should know where to send a questionable commercial claim. Their role is not to invent substantiation during review.
Substantiate the message
- Identify every objective claim, including implied comparisons
- Hold suitable evidence before publication
- Preserve important qualifications near the claim
- Confirm testimonials reflect real view and experience
- Do not describe community outcome as typical without evidence
Protect review integrity
- Prohibit fake reviews and undisclosed incentivised reviews.
- Explain how genuine incentives must be declared.
- Detect suspicious submission patterns proportionately.
- Provide a documented review and removal process.
- Avoid suppressing negative opinion merely because it is inconvenient.
The CMA's fake reviews guidance, CMA208, addresses the banned practice introduced through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. It covers businesses that submit, commission, publish or procure relevant review material. Check the detailed guidance against the community's function.
Control staff and partner activity
- Train employees and contractors who recommend products in the group.
- Put disclosure duties into ambassador and affiliate arrangements.
- Monitor a proportionate sample of published material.
- Correct unclear posts promptly and keep the decision record.
- Remove commercial privileges when repeated breaches continue.
Worked example: A sponsor pays an expert to answer questions in a community. The label reads "Paid partnership with [sponsor]" on the same screen as the answer.
The approval record lists creator [expert], approver [community moderator], commercial relationship [paid sponsorship], label [Paid partnership with [sponsor]], reviewer [compliance lead], date [date of approval] and evidence [brief and payment receipt].
A member review prompted by a free sample can read "Gifted item from [brand]; the review is my own". An affiliate resource list can read "Contains affiliate links; I may earn commission".
The person reviewing the post needs the agreement, proposed content and intended presentation, not merely a contributor's statement that "it is not an advert".
Check targeting and subject rules separately. Ads for some products and audiences can face additional placement, age or content restrictions. Do not infer permission from a platform allowing the campaign to run. Route regulated categories to a suitably qualified advertising reviewer before scheduling or approval.
When members can buy inside or directly from the community, preserve price and material qualification where the decision occurs. A promotional post should not omit a condition that substantially changes the offer and expect a later sales page to repair the initial impression.
Record the approval
Keep the content, evidence, commercial relationship, label, reviewer and date together. A platform's paid-partnership tool may help users, but it does not remove the need to assess the full presentation.
Refresh the checklist when formats, incentives or regulatory guidance change. A community policy should create a reliable route to the right reviewer; it cannot turn moderators into advertising lawyers.
Before you act
- Attach the completed approval record to the post schedule
- Route regulated categories to a qualified advertising reviewer
- Set a review date for the decision
Common questions
When does an ordinary community post become advertising?
When there is payment, commission, gifts, discounts, free access or another incentive, or when a marketer controls the content. Reassess when an ordinary contributor becomes an ambassador, employee or affiliate. Promotional material that resembles ordinary discussion still needs clear identification under Section 2 of the CAP Code.
