Press office

“The ASA's announcement today raises more questions than it answers. From 1 March 2011 the ASA will now cover marketing on advertiser’s own websites and other non-paid for advertising space online, including Twitter and Facebook. The decision makes sense in that it fills a gap - previously claims made in a press advert could be banned if untrue, but the same claims made on a company’s website could not be stopped. However, the ASA has not yet addressed how it will handle the large number of new complaints that are bound to arise under the new regime.  Will the ASA have sufficient new resources to handle this workload?  It has also not explained how it thinks that it can effectively regulate a fast-moving environment like Twitter, when complaints often take several months, if not longer, to resolve.”