The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned PR professionals to alter the way in which they use blogging and social media platforms such as Twitter. The warning comes after the OFT took enforcement action against one commercial blogging network, after it was found that it had breached fair trading rules by not disclosing which posts and updates were sponsored. Social media can be a great tool for PR agencies, but the OFT warns that public relations officers (PROs) need to take extra care when using it to ensure that they are being open and honest with consumers. Since the groundbreaking enforcement action was taken, the OFT has identified numerous other parties that may be caught out by the rule change. In an official statement on its website, OFT’s Consumer Group Senior Director Heather Clayton said:

“The integrity of information published online is crucial so that people can make informed decisions on how to spend their money. We expect online advertising and marketing campaigns to be transparent so consumers can clearly tell when blogs, posts and microblogs have been published in return for payment or payment in kind. We expect this to include promotions for products and services as well as editorial content.”