Seven DRAFT rows, each quoting the Guides
The pack is ensign's ftc-endorsement, version 1, last verified 2026-09-10. Each row takes one sentence of the FTC's Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255, and turns it into a test a post either meets or does not. The first row is the gate: it runs before the others, and a post with no connection between the creator and the brand stops there.
DRAFT. No lawyer has reviewed these rows.
Each quoted sentence is checked, byte for byte, against the copy of the regulation ensign retrieved from the eCFR, by a test that runs before every deploy of this page.
The rows
ftc-255-5-material-connectionDRAFTthe gateThe gate. Section 255.5(a) reaches a post only where a connection exists between the endorser and the seller that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement. A declared connection of paid, gifted or employment establishes one; so does a platform's own paid-partnership label. A declared connection of none denies one, and no row in this pack reaches the post.
Verbal statements, tags in social media posts, demonstrations, depictions of the name, signature, likeness or other identifying personal characteristics of an individual, and the name or seal of an organization can be endorsements.
an “endorsement” means any advertising, marketing, or promotional message for a product that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser, even if the views expressed by that party are identical to those of the sponsoring advertiser.
When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, and that connection is not reasonably expected by the audience, such connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously.
They can include monetary payment or the provision of free or discounted products (including products unrelated to the endorsed product) to an endorser, regardless of whether the advertiser requires an endorsement in return.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: Counsel to confirm two calls. First, that a platform paid-partnership label is enough to treat a material connection as established for scanning purposes, which is what section 255.5(a) describes but not what it decides. Second, that an operator's declaration of none should end the analysis, including where the platform label contradicts it; the pack takes the declaration as the operator's assertion of fact and says so in the output.
ftc-255-5-no-disclosure-in-any-channelDRAFTA connection is established and no disclosure term was found in any channel the engine could read. Section 255.5(a) requires the connection to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously; section 255.0(f) defines that as difficult to miss and easily understandable by ordinary consumers. Text absent from every readable channel meets neither.
When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, and that connection is not reasonably expected by the audience, such connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously.
“clear and conspicuous” means that a disclosure is difficult to miss (i.e., easily noticeable) and easily understandable by ordinary consumers.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: This row concludes from absence, so it turns entirely on which channels were supplied. It never concludes from silence: with every channel notRead, disclosure_found is unknown and the row returns unresolved rather than in_scope. Counsel to confirm that the audience-expectation carve-out in section 255.5(a), which excuses connections the audience already expects, is a fact outside the intake and therefore not modelled here.
ftc-255-5-gift-no-disclosureDRAFTA free or discounted product was received and no disclosure term was found in any channel the engine could read. Example 7 under section 255.5(b) puts a gifted lathe squarely inside the rule: the endorser should clearly and conspicuously disclose receiving it for free.
If a significant minority of viewers are likely unaware that the influencer received the lathe free of charge, the woodworker should clearly and conspicuously disclose receiving it for free, a fact that could affect the credibility that viewers attach to the endorsements.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: Example 7 conditions the duty on a significant minority of viewers being unaware of the gift. That is an audience fact the intake does not carry, so this row assumes it. Counsel to confirm, and to confirm the treatment of a gift the audience plainly expects, such as a review copy on a channel that only reviews review copies.
ftc-255-5-employee-no-disclosureDRAFTThe endorser is an employee of the seller and no disclosure term was found in any channel the engine could read. Example 8 under section 255.5(b) says the poster should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationship to the manufacturer, and extends the same duty to employees posting reviews on retail sites and review platforms.
Unbeknownst to this community, an employee of a leading home robot manufacturer has been posting messages on the discussion board promoting the manufacturer's new product. Knowledge of this poster's employment likely would affect the weight or credibility of the endorsements. Therefore, the poster should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationship to the manufacturer.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: Example 8 is written about an employee posting without the audience knowing. Where an account plainly belongs to the company, the connection may be one the audience already expects, which section 255.5(a) treats differently. The intake carries no field for whose account it is, so this row does not distinguish them. Counsel to confirm.
ftc-255-0-f-disclosure-outside-the-endorsement-channelDRAFTThe endorsement runs in the video and the only disclosure sits in the caption beside it. Section 255.0(f) says a disclosure for a representation made through audible means should appear in at least the audible portion, and through visual means in at least the visual portion. Example 3 puts the same point sharply: a disclosure in the closing credits would not be clear and conspicuous.
If a communication's representation necessitating a disclosure is made through visual means, the disclosure should be made in at least the communication's visual portion; if the representation is made through audible means, the disclosure should be made in at least the communication's audible portion; and if the representation is made through both visual and audible means, the disclosure should be made in the communication's visual and audible portions.
A disclosure during the show's closing credits would not be clear and conspicuous.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: Section 255.0(f) uses should rather than must, and this row treats that sentence as defining what clear and conspicuous means under the mandatory duty in section 255.5(a). Counsel to confirm that reading. The row is deliberately narrow: it fires only where both video channels were supplied and read, so it never concludes from a transcript the engine never saw.
ftc-255-0-f-disclosure-in-trailing-hashtag-blockDRAFTA disclosure was found, and it sits inside a trailing run of hashtags. Section 255.0(f) says that in an interactive electronic medium the disclosure should be unavoidable. The Guides do not say whether a hashtag block clears that bar, so this row returns unresolved and prints the reason rather than charging the post.
In any communication using an interactive electronic medium, such as social media or the internet, the disclosure should be unavoidable.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: Deliberately unresolvable. The row can return out_of_scope or needs_analysis and never in_scope, because charging a post on a judgement the Guides do not make is the inflated exposure the intent card refuses. Counsel may decide the question either way; if it becomes in_scope, the unknown leaf is what gets removed.
ftc-255-5-platform-label-is-the-only-disclosureDRAFTThe platform declared the post paid, and the only disclosure text the engine found is the platform's own tool. Section 255.5(a) requires the connection to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously and section 255.0(f) says what that means, but neither settles whether a platform's built-in label carries it alone. This row returns unresolved and prints the reason.
When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, and that connection is not reasonably expected by the audience, such connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously.
“clear and conspicuous” means that a disclosure is difficult to miss (i.e., easily noticeable) and easily understandable by ordinary consumers.
Effective 2023-07-26. Review note: Non-negotiable 10 in the session spec. A labelled post carrying no disclosure text at all is caught by ftc-255-5-no-disclosure-in-any-channel and is in_scope; a labelled post whose only disclosure text is the tool's own wording lands here and is needs_analysis. Counsel to confirm the split, and to confirm the platform-tool phrase list in rules/disclosure-signals.json.
The words the detector reads
A disclosure term counts as an opening disclosure inside the first 120 characters of a channel. Matching is case-insensitive over the caption, the on-screen text and the transcript.
Disclosure terms
#ad · #ads · #advert · #advertisement · #sponsored · #sponsoredpost · #paid · #paidad · #paidpartner · #paidpartnership · #partner · #brandpartner · #ambassador · #brandambassador · #gifted · #gift · #giftedby · #giftedproduct · #complimentary · #affiliate · #affiliatelink · #commissionearned · #ad_ · ad: · advertisement · sponsored by · sponsored post · this is sponsored · in partnership with · partnered with · brand partner · brand ambassador for · i am an ambassador for · paid to promote · paid by · i was paid · gifted by · sent to me by · sent me this · sent me these · gifted to me · free product from · complimentary from · affiliate link · affiliate links · i earn a commission · i may earn a commission · commission on sales · i work for · i am an employee of · employee of
Platform tool terms
paid partnership with · paid partnership · includes paid promotion · promotional content · sponsorship disclosure by · eligible for commission
Sponsorship signals, which make a to-do line and never a dollar
link in bio · link in my bio · swipe up · shop my · shop now · use my code · use code · discount code · promo code · my code · % off with · off your first order · code at checkout · thanks to · thank you to · huge thanks to · big thanks to · teamed up with · working with · collab with · collaboration with · obsessed with my new · my new favourite · my new favorite · c/o · pr package · pr box · pr unboxing · unboxing · restock alert · linked below · linked in my stories
The penalty figure
Section 5(m)(1)(A) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A)—$53,088;
The engine's own lock carries $53,088 from its 2026-09-10 retrieval; the eCFR read at build carries $53,088. They are the same figure.