Meta Mandates SEBI Verification For Investment Ads In India

Meta Platforms, the parent entity of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has mandated Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) registration verification for all securities and investment-related advertisements.

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram have to comply with the mandate by July 31, based on Meta’s updated service requirements for advertisers targeting users in India.

In cases where SEBI registration is not required, advertisers may opt for alternate verification options such as business or identity verification.

These ads would have the disclosure of the verified information, which aligns with the regulator’s earlier direction to advertisers to register themselves with the social media platforms.

As per the updated guidelines, advertisers can run ads without verification, provided it does not focus on an in-scope financial product or service, which covers brand ads for banks and insurance companies, news articles related to financial products or services and information about financial education.

Additionally, education, training or skill building to apply for loans or manage them alongside educational advertisements about a financial service or product that does not provide the ability to obtain or connect with that product or service also do not require verification.

Apart from India, the verification process has been made mandatory for ads promoted in Australia, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

Meta said that the procedure of verification is immediate for SEBI-registered advertisers, while it would take about two working days for those verifying as individuals or organisations that are not required to hold a SEBI registration.

This move is expected to severely impact influencers active on social media.

The development also comes months after the markets regulator issued a fresh set of clarifications on existing guidelines governing finfluencers.

Issues around online financial regulation have been debated for the past few years and the SEBI barred regulated entities from associating with unregistered finfluencers, a year ago.

Meanwhile, widely-known finfluencer Sharan Hegde’s financial edtech platform The 1% Club secured registered investment adviser (RIA) licence from the SEBI, earlier in February.

On the other hand, global tech giant Google has also been taking measures to track the ad health on its platform, where the Alphabet-owned Google removed 247.4 Mn advertisements and suspended nearly 2.9 Mn advertiser accounts in India last year for violating its advertisement policy.