FOI 26-23: Influencer Marketing

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FoI 26-23

25 September 2023

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”)

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 20 September 2023 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:

“The amount spent by the NI Assembly on influencer marketing from January 1 2019 to September 20 2023 and the number of influencers used, broken down by year;

A list of influencers used by the NI Assembly for influencer marketing from January 1 2019 to September 20 2023 and the total amounts paid;

A list of any ‘gifts’ or free services provided by the NI Assembly in exchange for influencer marketing from January 1 2019 to September 20 2023;

Any NI Assembly correspondence from January 1 2019 to September 20 2023 making influencers aware of their responsibilities for declaring advertising.”

The Assembly Commission does not hold information in relation to your request.

The Assembly Commission does not engage the services of influencers, paid influencers, or provide gifts to influencers in lieu of services.

You have the right to request a formal review by the Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address. If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF which will undertake an independent review.

The Assembly Commission may publish details of your FOI request and its official response within the organisational disclosure log. The request will be completely anonymised and you will not be identified in any way. This is to meet the requirements as laid out by in the agreed publication scheme with the Information Commissioners’ Office.

Yours sincerely

Data Protection and Governance Officer