Calling out disclosures, protecting followers: the new governors of influencer culture on TikTok

Annabell, Taylor ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6384-6754 2026. Calling out disclosures, protecting followers: the new governors of influencer culture on TikTok. Information, Communication and Society 10.1080/1369118X.2026.2674878

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Abstract

Influencer marketing is a core monetisation practice within the creator economy, which contributes to the presence of commercial content on platforms. To ensure audiences are informed, influencers are legally and platform-mandated to disclose when their content is advertising. This article examines how disclosure, as a form of governance, is negotiated on TikTok by influencers who call out and are called out for undisclosed ads, as well as by users whom disclosure allegedly aims to protect. By analysing callout videos, their comments, and comments on the alleged undisclosed ads, the study explores interpretations of disclosure – relying on and extending beyond legal frameworks – and the strategic use of regulation by actors who position themselves as governors of influencer culture. I unpack how the absence of disclosure is constructed as (1) meaningful, aligning with the influencer's commercial goals, and leaving certain groups vulnerable because they are presumed to be unable to decode its commercial nature; and (2) unnecessary due to ambivalence toward governance through disclosure. Building on research about informal governance via calling out in influencer culture, I demonstrate how calling out is mobilised for engagement, contributes to the gendered policing of feminised digital labour, and oscillates between condemning harmful behaviour and causing harm.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1369-118X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 August 2026
Date of Acceptance:	10 August 2026
Last Modified:	12 Aug 2026 14:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188948

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