Many know that advertising in the United States is policed by federal and state consumer protection agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general, as well as by competitors and consumers through private lawsuits. 

Lesser known may be the advertising industry’s robust self-regulatory framework, run through BBB National Programs, which oversees more than a dozen national advertising- and privacy-related self-regulation programs (including the National Advertising Division (NAD), which readers may know monitors national advertising for truth and accuracy and resolves competitive advertising disputes).  

According to a recent AdAge article by Jack Neff, the advertising industry is considering creating a new social media-focused self-regulatory body that would "handle social media issues and disputes...[, create] a new marketer council and [a] 'bill of rights' for brands and consumers covering such issues." 

According to Neff, the idea for this new body was discussed at a recent virtual meeting of The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) CMO Growth Council, and would ideally involve collaboration between the ANA, 4A's and BBB National Programs, as well as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media and World Federation of Advertisers.

We'll likely know more after the ANA annual Media Conference on March 2-4, 2022. We will update you on any available developments!