FTC violation
/ˌɛf tiː ˈsiː vaɪˌoʊleɪʃən/
CommonBreaking the US Federal Trade Commission rules on advertising disclosure.
Used in two registers. Technically: a legal violation with real enforcement consequences. Casually online: calling out any creator who seems to be hiding a paid relationship, whether or not the FTC will actually act.
Real-world examples3 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | No hashtag ad, no paid partnership label, just a glowing review of a product she got paid for. FTC violation. | The post is paid promotion with no disclosure, breaking FTC endorsement guidelines. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 02 | The FTC fined that brand 2 million for running a campaign of FTC violations through micro-influencers. | A company faced financial penalties for paying influencers who did not disclose the paid relationship. | reddit, 2023 |
| 03 | Giving away free products in exchange for posts without telling them to disclose is also an FTC violation. A lot of brands still do not know this. | Gifting products with the expectation of posting requires disclosure, and brands are liable if they do not instruct creators accordingly. | x, 2024 |
Use it when
- A creator posts paid content without any disclosure.
- Calling out a brand or creator for breaking advertising transparency rules.
- Discussing regulatory enforcement in influencer marketing.
Do not use it when
- The creator properly disclosed the sponsorship.Use “paid-partnership” instead.
- You are outside the US where the FTC has no jurisdiction.
Origin and context
The FTC's authority over deceptive advertising dates to 1914. Influencer-specific endorsement guidelines were formalized in 2009 and substantially updated in 2023 as creator marketing grew into a major ad channel.
- First seen
- 2009
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/ftc-violationUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0