Rules and ethics
Part of Multilingual social marketing rules and ethics: what to record
Multilingual social advertising after publication: log, pause and correct
Keep multilingual social advertising compliant after a post goes live: log each version, test it as audiences see it, pause on set triggers and correct.
A multilingual social post is not finished when it goes live. Advertising rules still apply to every language version, and the record kept after publication shows what was live, who checked it and how a fault was put right. The operating workflow ends at release. None of it is legal advice or a compliance certificate.
What to take away
- Log every live URL, account, asset version, timestamp and language for each language version.
- Check each post as an audience meets it, including shared views away from the account profile.
- Pause on six named triggers and withdraw every affected version.
- Give the correction owner access to every published version and destination.
- Correct the source first, then repeat the target-language, subject, accessibility and claims reviews.
Keep a ledger of what went live
Record each live URL, account, asset version, timestamp and language as soon as a post goes out. One row per language version lets a team say later exactly what an audience could see.
Ledger field / What to record
- Live URL and account
- Where each language version was published
- Asset version
- The approved version that was actually used
- Timestamp
- When it went live and when each check was made
- Language
- The language and locale of that version
- Checker
- Who checked what, and which check they ran
- Screen record
- The screen as the checker saw it
The ledger continues the publication-control record that is built before release. It adds only what can be known once the post is public.
Check the post as an audience meets it
Check the opening frame, truncated view, caption, audio, landing page and disclosure under the same device conditions an audience may encounter. A check on the editing screen is not a check on the live post.
Test an ordinary user journey, including a shared post viewed away from the account profile. The disclosure, material qualification and call to action should remain understandable in that setting. Preserve the screen, the time, the asset version and the person who checked it.
The pre-release quality checks cover the same ground before launch. After publication they are repeated on the live post, in every language version, with the result written into the ledger.
Six triggers that stop a live post
Pause when any one of six things happens: the source changes, meaning drifts, evidence expires, a disclosure disappears, accessibility fails or an unauthorised person edits the asset.
- Source changesthe approved sentence the target versions rest on is no longer the current one.
- Meaning driftsa target version no longer says what the source says.
- Evidence expiresthe objective claim has no current evidence behind it.
- Disclosure disappearsthe commercial relationship is no longer visible.
- Accessibility failscaptions, audio, image text, reading order or the destination task stops working.
- Unauthorised editsomeone without authority has changed the asset.
Evidence needs particular care. CAP's misleading-advertising section says marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective. An expired evidence file is therefore a reason to pause, not a gap to fill later.
Rules move as well. The register of CAP Code changes lists substantive rule changes made to the CAP Code since it was published in 2010, so check it before relying on an old approval.
Check the disclosure again in every language
Show the commercial relationship clearly in every target language and format. The ASA's current social-media recognition guidance says advertising should be identifiable as encountered.
Do not assume a translated label or a platform tool is sufficient without testing the render. Record gifts, payment, affiliate benefit, employment and own-brand interests before the post is approved, and check the CMA's current business and endorsement guidance alongside current consumer law.
Give the correction owner full access
Give the correction owner access to every published version and destination. A plan that can amend the English post but not its target-language copy or creator version is not ready for release.
When a fault is found, withdraw every affected version, correct the source first and repeat the target-language, subject, accessibility and claims reviews. Correcting one language alone leaves the others live with the same fault.
Write the correction into the same ledger: who withdrew each version, when, and what replaced it. A team that has to rehearse the failure scenarios before launch will find any missing access before a live fault does.
Before you act
- Log each live URL, account, asset version, timestamp and language.
- Check the opening frame, caption, audio, landing page and disclosure on the live post.
- Test a shared view of the post away from the account profile.
- Agree the six pause triggers before the post goes out.
- Confirm the correction owner can reach every published version.
- Record every withdrawal and replacement in the ledger.
Common questions
What should be recorded after publication?
For each language version, record the live URL, account, asset version, timestamp and language, with who checked what. Keep the screen as the checker saw it, so the record shows what an audience could see.
Who should be able to edit or withdraw a live post?
The correction owner, with access to every published version and destination. Anyone else who edits the asset is a pause trigger, because an unauthorised edit breaks the link to the approved version.
What should happen when something changes after publication?
Pause, withdraw every affected version, correct the source first, then repeat the target-language, subject, accessibility and claims reviews. Log each step in the ledger.
