The Italian competition authority has taken action against influencers Big Luca (Luca De Stefani) and Michele Leka for engaging in misleading advertising practices. They were found to promote strategies for easy and secure earnings without properly disclosing the nature of their promotional content as advertisements.

In total, the authority imposed fines amounting to €65,000 on De Stefani and Leka. De Stefani was penalized €60,000 for two unfair commercial practices, including making unverifiable claims about easy earnings and using fake followers to inflate his popularity on social media. Leka received a €5,000 fine for similar misleading promotions on TikTok.

Meanwhile, four other influencers—Luca Marani, Alessandro Berton, Hamza Mourai, and Davide Caiazzo—had their cases closed after they agreed to commitments aimed at improving compliance with consumer protection laws. These commitments include removing misleading expressions about easy earnings from their social media channels, adding advertising disclaimers, and ensuring the authenticity of their followers.

This enforcement action is part of a broader initiative by the authority to enhance transparency and fairness in influencer marketing, ensuring that the advertising nature of online content is clearly communicated to consumers. Earlier in January 2025, similar successful interventions were made with other influencers to promote compliance.