Influencer Disclosure & UGC Usage Rights: TW, HK, MY, SG

Disclosure rules in four markets at a glance

Three patterns hold in every market. First, gifts count: a free product is a relationship to disclose under Taiwan's definition, which lists gifts alongside pay and employment^[1], and under Singapore's guidelines, which name complimentary samples^[9]. Second, the label has to be noticed before the pitch, not buried in a pile of hashtags at the end. Third, the brand is exposed, not only the creator. In Taiwan the fine lands on the advertiser, and the regulator's own example says a manufacturer should remind and monitor the people posting for it to disclose^[1]. In Hong Kong the offence is committed by the trader^[6].

What does Taiwan require for sponsored posts?

Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) treats a post in which someone shares an opinion, belief or first-hand experience of a product as an endorsement advertisement (薦證廣告), and the person as an endorser (薦證者). The endorser can be a celebrity, a professional, an institution or an ordinary consumer, so a micro-creator is covered in the same way as a star^[1]. The TFTC defines a relevant interest as employment, a gift, payment or any other paid relationship. Where that relationship is not something the public would reasonably expect, it must be fully disclosed in the ad; failing to do so on social media can breach Article 25 of the Fair Trade Act^[1].

In February 2023 the TFTC amended its principles for online advertising cases to name social media users directly. A creator who sells goods, whether their own or a supplier's, is treated as the advertiser. A creator who promotes someone else's goods is an endorser^[2]. Under Article 42 the advertiser can be ordered to stop or correct the ad and fined NT$50,000 to NT$25 million; if the order is ignored, each further fine is NT$100,000 to NT$50 million^[1]. An endorser who knew, or should have known, that an endorsement was misleading shares joint civil liability for damages. If the endorser is not a well-known figure, professional or institution, that liability is capped at ten times the fee received^[1].

Health claims are a separate trap, and a correct label does not cure them. Under Article 28 of the Food Safety and Sanitation Management Act, food advertising may not be false, exaggerated or misleading, and may not claim medical efficacy at all. The fines are NT$40,000 to NT$4 million for the first and NT$600,000 to NT$5 million for the second^[3]. The Cosmetic Hygiene and Safety Act mirrors this for skincare and make-up: NT$40,000 to NT$200,000 for false or exaggerated claims and NT$600,000 to NT$5 million for medical claims^[4]. A creator saying a supplement "fixed my eczema" is a claim problem even when the post is clearly marked as a collaboration.

The practical rule for Taiwan: put 「合作」 or 「廣告」 in the first line of the caption and on screen at the start of the video, and have someone at the brand check every health, slimming or before-and-after claim against the food and cosmetics rules before the video goes live.

Is there an influencer disclosure law in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong has no statute written specifically for influencers. The relevant law is the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, whose unfair trade practice provisions took effect on 19 July 2013 and are enforced mainly by the Customs and Excise Department^[5]. One prohibited practice is a misleading omission. Under section 13E, that includes a commercial practice that fails to identify its commercial intent, unless the intent is already apparent from the context, where this causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to make a decision they would not otherwise have made^[6].

The enforcement guidelines contain examples that map closely onto creator marketing. An advertorial that is hard to tell apart from editorial content may hide its commercial intent. A trader who has a celebrity pose as an ordinary customer, without disclosing the contract between them, may commit the offence. And a beauty company that instructs its staff or a blogging agent to post glowing comments while pretending to be customers is the guidelines' own worked example of a misleading omission^[6]. On conviction on indictment, a fair trading offence carries a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment for 5 years; on summary conviction, HK$100,000 and 2 years^[6].

Because the legal test is whether commercial intent is apparent, the safe practice in Hong Kong is the same as in the other three markets: use the platform's paid-partnership label, and add a spoken or on-screen line such as 「合作推廣」 or 「廣告」 at the start of the video. Hong Kong audiences mostly speak Cantonese, but a written-Chinese label on screen is clear to everyone.

Malaysia's Content Code: five disclosure rules

Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Content Code 2022, dated May 2022 and registered with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), is the most specific of the four markets^[8]. It defines an influencer as a person or group who shares opinions in a personal capacity or is paid, in cash or other consideration, to advertise on their own social media. Reviews, endorsements and testimonials made under a commercial arrangement must be clearly disclosed as done in exchange for payment or another reciprocal arrangement, and the use of virtual influencers in ads must also be disclosed^[8].

Compliance with the Code is formally voluntary, but following it is also a defence against prosecution under the Communications and Multimedia Act. Part 3 says the main responsibility lies with advertisers, and that influencers and agencies also accept an obligation to follow it^[8]. After adjudicating a complaint, the Complaints Bureau can issue a written reprimand, impose a fine of up to RM50,000, and require the content to be removed^[8].

The language rule matters more in Malaysia than anywhere else in this guide. A campaign produced in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Chinese needs three versions of the disclosure, each inside its own video, and a creator who switches languages halfway through should label the ad in the language the pitch is made in. Build the label into the script rather than adding it in the edit, so it cannot be dropped when a video is cut down.

Singapore's ASAS rules: where the label goes

The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) issued its Guidelines for Interactive Marketing Communication & Social Media on 29 August 2016, to be read with the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice^[9]. The foremost principle is that marketing communication must be identified as such and kept distinct from editorial content and personal opinion. Any connection that may materially affect the weight or credibility of an endorsement must be fully disclosed, and the guidelines give commercial relationships, complimentary samples, friendly favours and special invitations as examples^[9].

The guidelines are unusually precise about placement. A disclosure should appear as early as reasonably possible with minimal scrolling or clicking, contrast with its background, be readable on different devices, and not sit behind a hyperlink. Visual disclosures must stay on screen long enough to be read, and audio-only content needs an audible one. The same document bans boosting engagement by fraudulent means, such as buying likes in bulk or creating fake accounts^[9].

One difference trips up regional teams. ASAS's guidance notes list "#sp" as an acceptable short-form tag for length-limited posts^[10], while Malaysia's Content Code names "sp" as a vague term to avoid^[8]. A caption template shared across both markets should therefore use "Ad" or "Sponsored" rather than an abbreviation.

Is the paid-partnership label enough?

Each platform has its own disclosure tool, and each makes it mandatory. Meta's policy requires anyone posting branded content on Instagram, Facebook, Threads or WhatsApp to tag the business partner whenever there is an exchange of value, including free products; the tag adds a "Paid partnership with" label^[13]. TikTok's Branded Content Policy, last updated on 4 August 2026, requires creators to switch on the commercial content disclosure toggle for any content that promotes a third-party brand in exchange for payment or any other incentive^[15].

The tools are necessary but not always sufficient. When the US Federal Trade Commission revised its Endorsement Guides on 29 June 2023, it added a definition of "clear and conspicuous" and said a platform's built-in disclosure tool might not be an adequate disclosure on its own^[11]. Its guidance adds that a disclosure should be made visually when the endorsement is visual and audibly when it is spoken^[12]. The FTC is a US regulator, but its test is a useful benchmark because the four Asian rules above ask for the same outcome: a label that people actually notice.

Who owns a commissioned creator video?

Disclosure governs how the post looks. Ownership decides what the brand may do with the video afterwards, and when the contract is silent the default answer changes at each border.

Singapore's intellectual property office gives an example that could have been written for UGC. A company commissions a marketing video from a freelancer; the contract covers the fee, length and subject but not copyright. The freelancer owns the video and may license it to others. The company may use it for the event it was made for, and must negotiate or license anything beyond that, preferably in writing^[20]. Taiwan works the same way by default: unless agreed otherwise, the creator keeps the economic rights and the commissioner may use the work^[18]. Malaysia sets the opposite default in favour of the commissioning party^[21].

Organic repost vs Partnership ads vs Spark Ads

Even when the brand owns or licenses the footage, there are three different things it might want to do with it, and each needs its own permission.

Meta's partnership ads run with the creator's handle, the advertiser's, or both in the ad header. Permission comes at two levels. Content-level permission lets an advertiser promote one specific post, story or reel. Account-level permission lets the advertiser create partnership ads from the creator's handle, even without pre-existing content, and from any post that tags the brand. Creators can revoke either at any time^[14].

On TikTok, Spark Ads turn an organic post into an ad with the creator's permission. The creator generates an authorisation code and can set how long it lasts; requests sent through TikTok's Content Suite default to 365 days^[17]. All engagement a Spark Ad earns, including views, likes, comments, shares and follows, is attributed to the original organic post^[16]. That matters for reporting: if a creator is paid on organic performance, agree up front how views from paid promotion of the same post will be counted.

Write the in-app permission into the contract as well. State which posts the brand may promote, the start and end dates, whether the brand may change captions, and what happens to running ads if the creator withdraws permission early. Meta lets advertisers hide comments on ads they run with a creator, and lets the creator unhide them^[14], so agree a comment policy before launch rather than during a complaint.

What should a creator agreement say?

On Clipy, creators film and post on their own accounts, and the brand pays for the views those posts earn. On per-video briefs, brands can review content before it is published, and brands can chat with creators directly, which is where the points above get settled. If you also want to run a creator's video as a paid ad, treat that as a separate licence agreed with the creator. The UGC brief template has wording you can paste into a brief, and the cross-border guide covers language and logistics when one campaign spans all four markets.