During major events such as the World Cup, social media fills up with posts mentioning national teams, sponsors and brands of every kind. For companies and content creators, each post is an opportunity for engagement, but it can also be the source of a legal problem. When a sponsored publication misleads the consumer, hides that it is advertising or improperly uses a third party’s trademark, a question arises that matters to anyone investing in digital marketing in Brazil, including international companies operating in the country: who is liable?
The new “Influencers’ Law” (Law No. 15,325/2026): what it is, and what it is not
Sanctioned on January 6, 2026, Law No. 15,325/2026 was nicknamed by the press the “Digital Influencers’ Law”. The label helps the news circulate, but it can mislead. The text of the law, in fact, regulates the multimedia profession, recognizing as a professional anyone who creates, produces, edits or distributes content in digital formats, a category that includes influencers, streamers, podcasters and creators in general.
It is important to register what the law does not do. It does not require a diploma or registration with a professional council, it does not establish censorship, and it does not, in itself, create new advertising-disclosure duties or a dedicated liability regime. In just six articles, it recognizes the activity as a profession.
What changes in practice is the legal classification of the influencer. By treating content creation as a professional activity, especially where there is monetization, sponsorship or a commercial partnership, the law sets aside the idea that the activity is a mere hobby and creates a set of expectations around it. After all, a professional is expected to act more responsibly and cautiously than an ordinary user, particularly when that professional has hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of followers.
Where does liability for posts actually come from?
The influencer’s liability was not born with Law No. 15,325/2026. It already existed, spread across a set of rules that remain fully applicable. These are four pillars that any business should know before closing a campaign:
- Consumer Defense Code (Law No. 8,078/1990): prohibits misleading and abusive advertising (arts. 36 and 37). Whoever leads the consumer into error, whether by action or omission, is legally responsible.
- Civil Code (Law No. 10,406/2002): establishes the duty to repair damage caused to third parties (arts. 186 and 927), which reaches content published in a professional capacity.
- Advertising self-regulation (CONAR): the Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Code and the Guide on Advertising by Digital Influencers, issued by the Brazilian National Advertising Self-Regulation Council (CONAR), impose transparency and clear identification of what is an advertisement.
- Industrial Property Law (Law No. 9,279/1996): protects third-party trademarks eventually mentioned in a post and represses unfair competition (art. 195).
In this scenario, the new law works as an interpretive reinforcement. It signals to the Judiciary that the professional content creator holds a differentiated position and must answer accordingly.
The duty to disclose what is advertising
The most sensitive point in daily practice is simple and frequently ignored: making clear when content is advertising. The CONAR Guide defines three cumulative elements that characterize advertising by an influencer:
- the promotion of a product or service;
- a compensation or commercial relationship with the advertiser, even if non-financial;
- and the advertiser’s interference over the content, the so-called editorial control, meaning the advertiser determines what is to be communicated in the message.
When the three coexist, there is an advertisement, and it must be identified immediately, with expressions such as “publicidade”, “publi” or “paid partnership”. In Brazil, the Portuguese terms are the ones the audience recognizes most readily.
What about freebies?
There is an intermediate situation that often raises doubts. The gift, or “recebido” in Portuguese, is the product sent without consideration and without editorial control over what will be said. Technically, it is not an advertisement, but the principle of transparency requires that the relationship be disclosed, with mentions such as “recebido” (received) or a thank-you to the brand. The difference is both legal and practical.
The risk of not disclosing goes beyond ethics. The omission of the advertising nature may be treated as misleading advertising by omission under the Consumer Defense Code, with civil and administrative consequences for the influencer and for the brand.
Mentioning other companies’ brands: the line between citing and appropriating
Citing a third party’s brand in a post is not always a problem. The issue arises when the mention stops being a reference and becomes an undue exploitation of someone else’s reputation. The Industrial Property Law grants the owner the right to safeguard the integrity and reputation of its trademark (art. 130) and criminalizes, as acts of unfair competition, the diversion of clientele and undue association (art. 195).
A useful concept here is parasitic competition, which describes the practice of riding on the prestige of an established brand to promote one’s own. In influencer campaigns, this appears when the creator disparages a competitor of the hiring company or exploits a third party’s brand without authorization to drive sales. The problem, in that case, does not reach only the influencer, but also the company that hired the creator, especially in light of the improper use of trademarks on digital platforms and the impact of social media on the management of registered trademarks.
The World Cup: the minefield of FIFA’s rights
Major sporting events multiply the temptation to ride the wave of audience attention, and the World Cup is the prime example. Expressions such as “Copa do Mundo” (World Cup), together with emblems, mascots and other symbols, are protected assets of FIFA and of the official sponsors, who pay for exclusivity of association with the tournament.
The General Sports Law (Law No. 14,597/2023) gave the matter permanent treatment. It criminalizes the improper use of symbols of sports organizations (art. 168) and typifies ambush marketing by association (art. 170) and by intrusion (art. 171), with penalties of detention and fines. More recently, Law No. 15,421/2026, enacted for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, broadened this protective system.
The influencer must therefore be very careful about what is published. A paid post along the lines of “cheer for the team in the World Cup and enjoy the deals at [store]” may constitute ambush marketing by association, by suggesting a link with the event that does not exist. The line between a spontaneous reference and commercial exploitation is narrow, and it calls for prior analysis.
Shared liability: influencer, brand, agency and platform
A common mistake is to assume that the bill arrives only at the influencer’s door. The CONAR Guide is explicit in also assigning duties to the advertiser and the agency, which must guide the creator and ensure compliance with the rules. Law No. 15,325/2026 reinforces this idea of a network of co-responsibility among everyone involved in the publication.
Platforms have also entered this equation. In June 2025, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) declared art. 19 of the Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights (Marco Civil da Internet, Law No. 12,965/2014) partially unconstitutional. Under the new understanding, a platform may be held liable if, once notified of illicit content, it fails to remove it, and there is a presumption of liability for content boosted by paid advertising. The subject is addressed in our analysis on the STF and article 19 of the Marco Civil.
In this context, a few measures significantly reduce the risk:
- Disclose advertising clearly and immediately, without depending on the “see more” button.
- Formalize the partnership in a written contract, defining responsibilities, use of trademarks and the limits of the content, instead of settling everything through informal messages.
- Treat mentions of third-party brands with caution, avoiding undue association or disparagement of competitors.
- Take extra care with World Cup and FIFA symbols, submitting opportunistic campaigns to legal analysis before publication.
- Adopt safeguards for child influencers, observing the full protection of children and adolescents in the digital environment.
The importance of specialized legal guidance
The professionalization of the content creator has made it clear that, for brands, agencies and influencers, the best time to think about these questions is before publishing, not after the takedown notice.
The team at Ricci Intellectual Property acts in a preventive and strategic way, helping Brazilian and international companies structure safe campaigns, protect their brands and turn the legal function into a true business partner. For foreign companies that market in Brazil, Ricci serves as a local point of contact. Talk to us at riccipi.com.br.
