New ethical rules for influencers are being tested with critical Mols Line video

Can it really be that one should struggle with the parking space on restroom doors and with something as simple as getting out of a car, when going on a trip with Molslinjen?

- Sometimes cars are parked so close that one can barely open the door enough to get a child out in a way that feels more like a birth, says influencer Christina Sander in a video on Instagram.

The video was viewed by 143,000 followers under the caption '5 things Molslinjen could change to make the trip a little less unbearable for families with children'.

The post quickly made headlines in established media, Molslinjen was contacted from left and right and would have really liked to have known that Christina Sander was on her way with criticism.

For all the attention, the opposite expression is not good publicity.

- We occasionally get criticism, and we should also be able to handle it. The difference here is that it is a very powerful platform from which criticism is sent when one has over 140,000 followers, says Molslinjen's press chief, Jesper Maack, to P1 Orientering (https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/p1-orientering/p1-orientering-2025/onsdag-23-apr-2025-11802510173 ).

There is just the same with the fact that Christina Sander, on paper, has not done anything wrong.

Established media such as for example DR should always reach out to the criticized party and give them the opportunity to have a comment before publication.

But nothing in the strict ethical rules for influencers says that Christina Sander should do the same.

Nevertheless, she apologizes for it.

- I had thought the video as a harmless, humorous insert. I had not thought that it reflected enormously negatively on Molslinjen and Molslinjen's customers. That was something I had not foreseen, and therefore I will of course regret it, says Christina Sander to DR.

- It was a hope to create a little improvement with a funny piece of content, which was then received quite differently than expected.

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'We would rather have the debate in a real media'

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The debate about the power and responsibility of influencers has been reignited, after a so-called influencer council was established at the beginning of the month, which made a set of ethical guidelines for Danish influencers (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/seneste/nyt-naevn-med-etiske-retningslinjer-skal-give-influencere-advarsler ), that is, influencers, bloggers and similar.

The council is under the Danish Journalist Association and functions in many ways like the press council. That is, the institution that keeps an eye on the established media, which have signed up for the council and therefore commit themselves to rules about for example rebuttal.

In the same way, influencers - like Christina Sander has done - can sign up for the influencer council and subsequently use a mark that among other things shows that they will maintain a good tone, mark the use of artificial intelligence and not prevent the criticized party from speaking.

Christina Sander shares her life in a small family - with a special focus on mental load. She has from the start taken Molslinjen into account, but it has not commented on the concrete post. (Photo: © Screendump Instagram)

Influencers do not need to make the criticized party aware of the content themselves - neither before nor after publication.

They must only not delete it or the comments they may have written for a post.

Christina Sander follows the rules for influencers, which are part of the aforementioned council. Can't you just join in on the comment thread?

- Yes, but I think that maybe it's not the best place for us to be. There is the discussion and the atmosphere just as set, says Molslinjen's press chief, Jesper Maack.

- We have more interest in having the debate out in a real media, where we have a chance and are entitled to speak.

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Influencers are not media

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Influencers have a large following and reach.

The same is true for media.

Influencers can quickly cause great harm to individuals and businesses.

The same is true for media.

Molslinjen would have liked to have been warned about Christina Sander's post before she published it, because it could potentially be harmful to them. (Photo: © Henning Bagger, Ritzau Scanpix)

So why should influencers not be subject to the same guidelines as DR, TV2, newspapers and all the others?

- Because they are not media. That's not the intention. They are individuals who have opinions and attitudes towards things, but it is not editorially produced content, says vice president of the Danish Journalist Association Allan Boye Thulstrup.

- In the reality we are in now, it is enormously important that the population can see when something is subject to the media responsibility law, and when one can rely on the fact that something is right. There we are forced not to mix all possible genres.

Influencer and entrepreneur Cathrine Widunok Wichmand has also recently been in the media spotlight because she was criticized for asking the municipality for help for her business due to an ADHD diagnosis. You can read more about it here:

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.