The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has started the implementation of its new vetting rates for all social media ads in Nigeria.
According to the new rates, Nigerians can pay as high as N100,000 for the approval of social media adverts if they want their adverts to be vetted within 8 working hours, which is like a day. However the normal vetting which takes 7 days, costs N7.500. If you want your social media advert to be vetted in 16 hours (i.e. 2 days), you will need to cough out N70,000.
ARCON has been coming up with rules and regulations to monitor the adverts in the social media space which has not been strictly adhered to, by creators in Nigeria.
In December 2022, the regulatory body mandated skit makers, social media influencers, and bloggers, among others to seek its approval before advertising any product or service online. The body added that this was in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and the ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022.
In the mandate notice signed by its Director-General, Olalekan Fadolapo, he stated that most of the advertisements exposed by this group were not only unethical with unverified claims and misinformation, but also in violation of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice.
“By this public notice, brand owners, digital agencies, secondary digital media space owners (i.e. bloggers, vloggers, influencers, comedians, skit makers, etc), and other advertising stakeholders in the digital online media space are advised to obtain pre-exposure approval of all advertisements, advertising, and marketing communications in accordance with the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and the ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022,” he added.
Last week, ARCON was granted approval in court to summon Meta in N30 billion suit instituted against the social media giant for violation of the extant advertising laws of Nigeria. Last October, ARCON instituted a lawsuit against Meta incorporated, owners of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and its agent AT3 Resources Limited, at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, alleging that Meta has continued exposure to unvetted advertisements had led to the loss of revenue to the federal government.
In the lawsuit, the apex regulatory body for Nigeria’s advertising ecosystem is seeking N30 billion in sanction for the “violation of the advertising laws and for loss of revenue as a result of Meta’s continued exposure of unapproved adverts on its platforms.”
