Popular beauty influencer Suzanne Jackson and MMA fighter Conor McGregor have both had enforcement actions taken against them by Ireland’s competition watchdog.
The two social media personalities and business owners were issued compliance notices by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) for failing to disclose the commercial nature of content posted on their Instagram accounts.
A compliance notice is a written legal notice that the CCPC can issue to a trader who has committed or is currently committing a prohibited act or practice. The notice directs the trader to stop a certain practice and obey the law by a certain date. Failure to do so is an offence and can lead to prosecution.
For Mr McGregor, the Instagram account in question was @notoriousmma, which has more than 46m followers. The account is regularly used by the MMA fighter to advertise and promote his Dublin pub, The Black Forge Inn, his Forged Irish Stout and his Notorious Cigars.
For Ms Jackson, the Instagram account issued with a compliance notice was @sosume_ie, which has just under 300,000 followers. Ms Jackson regularly uses this account to promote her SOSU Cosmetics brand and her Dripping Gold tan.
A total of 18 enforcement notices actions were taken against influencers, retailers and bars in breach of consumer protection law, the CCPC said, with actions being taken against traders in Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Mayo and Offaly.
In Cork, the Flannels Group, trading as luxury retailer Flannels on St Patrick’s Street, was issued a fixed payment notice for failing to display product prices. A fixed issue payment notice is is a set fine of €300 that the CCPC can issue to traders for failing to correctly display prices or failing to provide certain important information to a consumer.
Other retailers issued with fixed payment notices for failing to display product prices include Circle K Holding Ltd, trading as Circle K on Nassau St in Dublin, Ard Services Ltd, trading as Circle K in Tallaght, Midlands Retail Investments Ltd, trading as Leavy’s Centra in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, and Euro General Retail Limited, trading as Eurogiant in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
In addition, the Dublin Mint Office was issued three compliance notices for unfair contract terms, misleading information on its website, dublinmintoffice.ie and for failure to provide essential consumer information on its website.
Three Dublin pubs were also issued with compliance notices for failing to display a price list. These were Perfect Pubs 3 Ltd, trading as The Auld Dubliner in Dublin 2, the Temple Bar Tavern Ltd, trading as Fitzsimons Temple Bar, and Widestar Ltd, trading as Dakota Bar in Dublin 2.
Speaking on the latest enforcement actions, Patrick Kenny of the CCPC said: “Whether you’re a retailer, a publican or an influencer, you must comply with consumer law. Our officers carry out hundreds of instore and online inspections, sweeps and investigations every year, assessing thousands of products and transactions to make sure consumer rights are upheld across the economy.
“CCPC teams will be actively monitoring compliance by these traders. Failure to obey a compliance notice is an offence, and we will prosecute those who do not correct their practices.”
Mr Kenny said the CCPC looked forward to the introduction of direct fining powers, adding that the ability to issue significant fines was an “essential addition” to its enforcement toolkit.
The CCPC has long called for stronger enforcement powers to address serious breaches of consumer law, including the ability to impose fines based on a business’s turnover.
