New media framework puts vloggers, bloggers and social-media influencers under clearer rules
Kuwait Rewrites the Rules of Influence
The Times Kuwait Report
The era when an influencer could argue that “it’s only Instagram” or “I’m just a blogger” is rapidly disappearing. Kuwait is updating its media framework to reflect a reality that has changed dramatically in recent years: a smartphone can now be a newspaper, television channel, advertising agency, production studio and personal broadcasting platform all at the same time.
The new framework brings professional digital activity into a more clearly defined regulatory environment, while separate digital-commerce legislation establishes obligations around online advertising and the use of influencers to promote products and services.
For Kuwait’s growing army of TikTok creators, YouTubers, Instagram influencers, bloggers, vloggers and online publishers, the message is becoming increasingly clear: having a large digital following comes with responsibilities.
The new rules do not mean that every person who posts a photograph, makes a Reel or comments on an issue suddenly becomes a licensed journalist. There remains an important distinction between ordinary personal use of social media and professional media activity. The issue arises when an account develops into a professional operation producing content systematically, generating income, carrying advertising or functioning in practice as a media platform.
That distinction is particularly important for creators who have built businesses around their online personalities.
Influencers are now part of the commercial equation
Perhaps the biggest change for influencers comes from Kuwait’s new Digital Commerce Law. The legislation specifically addresses the use of influencers in commercial promotion. Kuwait’s Decree-Law No. 10 of 2026 on Digital Commerce has already been enacted and contains provisions relevant to influencers and digital advertising.
It is separate from the new Media Regulation draft. Where influencers are used to promote products or services, businesses must maintain records and agreements relating to the influencer for at least five years. Payments to influencers must also be made through reliable payment methods consistent with anti-money-laundering requirements and banking regulations.
Most importantly, companies cannot use influencers in campaigns designed to mislead consumers, deceive them or circumvent financial regulations. This means the relationship between an influencer and a business is no longer simply a private commercial arrangement. It is becoming part of Kuwait’s regulated digital economy.
Paid promotion must be treated as advertising
For influencers, one of the most important practical lessons is the need to distinguish between personal opinion and paid promotion. A restaurant review, hotel recommendation, beauty treatment, property promotion or product endorsement may look like ordinary social-media content to viewers.
But if the creator is being paid, receiving a benefit or participating in a commercial campaign, the commercial relationship becomes relevant.
The Digital Commerce Law requires advertising to provide clear and accurate information about the product or service, while prohibiting misleading or false information and practices that could deceive consumers. In other words, an influencer cannot simply turn an advertisement into a personal recommendation and assume that the regulatory responsibility disappears.
The rules follow the audience
An important feature of the new media framework is that the focus is not simply on where the influencer lives. The new media legislation provides that advertising and promotional activity on social-media platforms can fall within its scope when it targets an audience inside Kuwait, regardless of whether the person conducting that activity is a Kuwaiti citizen, resident or visitor.
That could have implications for overseas influencers, visiting creators and international campaigns specifically targeting Kuwait’s market.
Bloggers face a changing landscape
The same distinction applies to bloggers and online news accounts.Someone occasionally expressing a personal view is different from an account that regularly publishes news, commentary or specialised information as a professional operation.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Information already provides electronic licensing services and identifies electronic publishing among the activities falling within its media-regulatory responsibilities.
The direction of travel is clear: digital publishing is increasingly being treated as part of the wider media sector rather than as an entirely separate world.
News cannot become rumours simply because it is online
For vloggers and bloggers who cover current affairs, another responsibility is accuracy. The speed of social media can make verification difficult. A photograph, video or message can reach tens of thousands of people before its authenticity has been established.
The new regulatory environment therefore makes the traditional journalistic principles of verification, attribution and accuracy increasingly relevant to professional digital creators.
Being first may attract followers. Being wrong can create legal and reputational consequences.
Vloggers also need to consider privacy when filming in public. A crowded shopping mall, restaurant, street or event may provide the setting for a popular video, but the presence of a camera does not automatically remove people’s rights to privacy.
Creators should be particularly cautious when filming children, private conversations, personal documents, vehicle information or individuals who are not part of the story. The more professional and commercial the content becomes, the greater the need for creators to understand the legal responsibilities attached to what they publish.
AI adds another layer
Kuwait’s media reforms also arrive at a time when artificial intelligence is transforming content production. AI can now create realistic photographs, videos, voices and even apparently authentic interviews. That makes transparency increasingly important. For professional creators, the question will no longer simply be “Did I film this?” but potentially “What exactly did I create, alter or generate and does my audience know?”
The new media framework’s recognition of technological developments, including AI, reflects the reality that regulation designed only for newspapers and television cannot adequately address today’s digital environment.
The five questions every influencer should ask
For Kuwait’s professional digital creators, the emerging rules can be distilled into five basic questions:
1. Is my account still personal, or has it become a professional business?
2. Am I being paid or receiving products, services or other benefits to promote something?
3. Have I clearly identified commercial content and checked the claims I am making?
4. Am I publishing information about another person without properly considering privacy and consent?
5. Do I need a media, commercial or other licence for the activity I am conducting?
These questions will become increasingly important as the detailed implementing regulations and administrative procedures take shape.
A new generation of media professionals
Kuwait’s media landscape is no longer defined only by newspaper offices, television studios and radio stations. A creator working alone from a bedroom can potentially reach a larger audience than a traditional publication. A ten-second video can generate more public attention than a lengthy article. An influencer can move consumer behaviour with a single post.
The law is catching up with that reality. For influencers, vloggers and bloggers, this does not necessarily mean the end of the freewheeling digital culture that made social media so powerful.
It means something more fundamental: Digital influence is becoming a professional activity and professional influence comes with professional responsibility. The camera may still be in your hand. But increasingly, the rules apply to what happens after you press “post.”
