Illicit advertising and digital influencers new trends of tort law

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the issue of tort law of the so-called "digital influencers", under the prism of illicit advertising, as foreseen in the Code of Consumer Protection. This paper seeks to analyze the rise of such agents in the consumer area and technological innovations in advertising that allow the occurrence of misleading or abusive advertising, conceiving a duty of care based on the ethical and legal precepts of objective good faith, ensuring balance in the consumer relationship and, consequently, greater consumer safety. Regarding the type of investigation, in the classification Witker (1985) and Gustin (2010), the legal-projective type was chosen. According to the technique of content analysis, it is said that this is a theoretical research, which has proved possible from the content analysis of doctrine, jurisprudence and relevant legislation. The attribution of objective civil liability to digital influencers has been determined, since, by agreeing to link their image and fame in their digital platform, to a particular product or service, they should seek all necessary  steps and increase their duty of care and information so that advertising be lawful, bearing in mind that they may be liable for any damages they may cause to the consumer in the digital environment.