Colombia's Constitutional Court orders regulation of influencers

Colombia's Constitutional Court has issued a mandate, known as Sentence T-241 of 2026, ordering the government and Congress to establish specific regulations for content creators and influencers. The court directed the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications and the legislature to define the rights and duties of those exercising freedom of expression on digital platforms, noting that such rights are not absolute and must respect constitutional limits.

The ruling follows a legal challenge by a woman, referred to as Mariana, who was a victim of an acid attack in 2020. A podcast creator published an interview regarding the incident without Mariana's prior, free, and informed consent, and failed to remove the content for over a year despite requests. The court ruled that this violated her rights to privacy and image, emphasizing that consent must be revocable by the individual.

As part of the decision, the podcast creator was ordered to issue a public apology and implement strict authorization mechanisms for future guests. Additionally, the court requested that major digital platforms, including Meta, TikTok, X, Google, Apple, and Amazon, disseminate this ruling among Colombian content creators using their services.