Influencers affiliated with the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA are circumventing Instagram’s ban on branded content that promotes weapons and ammunition.
TPUSA recruited hunting industry influencer Kendall Jones and firearms instructor Paige Roux as part of its larger influencer marketing campaign to sell conservative politics to young Americans. When they’re not promoting TPUSA events like the Young Women’s Leadership Summit to their respective 260,000 and 105,000 Instagram followers, Jones and Roux are engaged in dishonest influencer marketing tactics for weapons and weapon accessories, seemingly in violation of Instagram parent company Meta’s policies.
In 2019, Instagram barred influencers from promoting weapons and weapon parts in branded content, which is defined as “content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value, such as monetary payment or free gifts.” Despite the ban, weapons companies still rely on influencers to push their products because they’re effective marketers who can help brands sidestep platform rules.
As brand ambassadors for various weapons industry companies, both Jones and Roux have built relationships with and received material benefits from weapons manufacturers — including free firearm magazines and crossbows. However, Jones and Roux aren’t disclosing their material relationships to these brands in tagged content, effectively dodging Instagram’s ban on weapon promotions in branded content and potentially violating Federal Trade Commission rules.
Instagram and Federal Trade Commission regulations on branded content, explained:
In 2019, Meta introduced regulations that ban influencers from promoting weapons and ammunition — including firearms, firearm parts, silencers, suppressors, and other weapons intended for self-defense — in branded content. Instagram also requires that branded content include paid-partnership labels.
Branded content is subject to even stricter regulations set by the FTC, which has cracked down on influencer marketing in recent years in an attempt to protect consumers from deceptive social media advertising. Under FTC rules, influencers must disclose their material relationship with a brand clearly and in a hard-to-miss place on every image, video, and caption when posting affiliate codes, discounts, advertisements, and tagged content. On Instagram, all content with a material connection to a business partner, such as an affiliate link or discount code, should have a disclosure. This disclosure can take the form of a prominently displayed hashtag (e.g. #ad, #paid, #sponsored) or word of thanks for a free product or service.
Despite the fact that noncompliance can result in restrictions on an Instagram account or hefty fines from the FTC, unlabeled branded content — including advertisements for prohibited goods such as firearms, firearm parts, and other weapons — perpetually plagues Instagram.
TPUSA’s Kendall Jones regularly posts unlabeled branded content promoting guns and crossbows on Instagram
Kendall Jones is a brand partner with Guns.com, one of America’s largest online gun retailers, and TenPoint Crossbow Technologies, a crossbow manufacturer that also sells hunting gear. Jones regularly posts unlabeled branded content promoting Guns.com and TenPoint products, including weapons, in violation of Meta policies.
Jones has added disclosures like “#partner” and “#ad” to promotional posts for Guns.com in the past, but many of her recent posts advertising new guns and gear lack proper disclosures. Guns.com has both affiliate and ambassador programs. Affiliates receive 3% to 8% commission on product sales, and although Guns.com is not transparent about its ambassador perks, it is typical for influencers to receive payments and free gear from sponsors in exchange for reviews, videos, giveaways, contests, and more.
