Written Evidence for UK Parliament
on Influencer Culture
Digital Legal Lab researcher dr. Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) and dr. Christine Riefa (Brunel University London) convened a focus group in early May 2021 to respond to a call for evidence launched by the UK Parliament to examine the power of influencers on social media and the absence of regulation on the promotion of products or services by social media influencers.
The focus group, consisting of scholars from nine universities located in six countries and bringing together five scientific disciplines (computer science, media and communication, law, sociology and business), developed a response to the parliamentary inquiry on Influencer Culture launched by the UK Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
All authors of this brief are experts and have a track record of publications in the field of social media and influencer marketing. The team includes academics from around the world, because influencer marketing is a phenomenon that goes way beyond the geographical borders of the UK and needs to be thought of globally.
The brief
the authors
The brief was submitted by the following authors (in alphabetical order).
Laura Aade (M.Sc. in Public Policy and Human Development, Maastricht University)
Thales Bertaglia (PhD Candidate, Maastricht University)
Sophie Bishop (Lecturer in Digital Marketing and Communication, King’s College London)
Hayleigh Bosher (Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law, Brunel University London)
Angèle Christin (Assistant Professor of Communication and Sociology, Stanford University)
Daniel Ershov (Assistant Professor of Economics, Toulouse University)
Catalina Goanta (Assistant Professor in Private Law, Maastricht University)
Giovanni De Gregorio (Postdoctoral Researcher, Oxford University)
Gemma Newlands (PhD Candidate, University of Amsterdam/BI Norwegian Business School)
Christine Riefa (Reader in Consumer Law, Brunel University London)
Jerry Spanakis (Assistant Professor in Data Mining and Machine Learning, Maastricht University)
Jeremy Yang (PhD Candidate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Isabelle Wildhaber (Full Professor in Private and Business Law, University of St. Gallen)
Get in touch
The members of the focus group are open to further elaborating on the points mentioned in this written evidence and welcome additional information requests.
Please contact: Dr Catalina Goanta, catalina.goanta@maastrichtuniversity.nl and/or Dr Christine Riefa, christine.riefa@brunel.ac.uk