Social media

Usually, the material on social media will be the whole social media post. You must include the imprint in the post itself, unless it is not reasonably practicable.

For example, for paid adverts on Facebook, it will usually be reasonably practicable to include the imprint as a part of the material – you can include the imprint in the content of the advert, or in the disclaimer text which appears at the top of the advert.

Social media ad promoting a candidate that reads “Vote. Vote Jane Doe for the Grey Party”. There is an imprint in the disclaimer text that reads “Promoted by John Smith on behalf of Jane Doe, both of 110 High Street Engleston, AB12 3CD”.

On some digital platforms, the design of the platform, such as there being a character limit on posts, may mean that it is not reasonably practicable to include the imprint as a part of the post. In this case, you must display a legible imprint somewhere directly accessible from the post. The imprint must be directly accessible from the post no matter what device is used. There are a number of different ways that you can do this.

For example, on Twitter, it may often not be reasonably practicable to include the imprint in the post itself because of a character limit. If this is the case, your imprint can be included on your profile, for example underneath your name, or as a pinned post or tweet. Alternatively the imprint can be included somewhere else that you directly link to from your post, for example on your own website.

Example pinned tweet for “Jane Doe for Engleston” which reads “Want to find out more about our campaign? Go to: www.janeforengleston.org.uk to find out more. Promoted by John Smith on behalf of Jane Doe, both of 110 High Street, Engleston, AB12 3CD”.
Candidate imprint as a pinned tweet, where the candidate is their own agent.
Bywgraffiad Instagram enghreifftiol ar gyfer yr ymgeisydd ffug Jane Doe sy’n darllen fel a ganlyn: “Pleidleisiwch dros Jane Doe ar gyfer y Blaid Lwyd 2022. Cofrestrwch ar gyfer ein cylchlythyr: www.janedrosbonteglwys.org.uk. Hyrwyddwyd gan John Smith ar ran Jane Doe, y naill ar llall o 110 Y Stryd Fawr, Ponteglwys, AB12 3CD”.
Candidate imprint in social media profile.

Usually the ‘About’ section of a profile on a digital platform is not directly accessible from a post, because the hyperlink to the profile does not directly take you to that section. In this case, the ‘About’ section will only be directly accessible from a post if you add your own direct link to the ‘About’ section into the post.

If material requires an imprint, you must ensure it is published on a platform that enables you either to include the imprint as part of the material or, if not reasonably practicable, somewhere directly accessible from the material. If a platform has such limited functionality that you cannot do either, then material that requires an imprint must not be published on that platform.

If you publish material that requires an imprint on a platform that has limited functionality, you must include the imprint no matter what the limitations of that platform are. For example, TikTok has an 80-character bio, you cannot include links in a caption, and pinned posts are not available to all users. The best way to avoid these limitations is to include the imprint within the content of your TikTok video itself.

Last updated: 2 November 2023