Mohale Moloi, Content Director at Irvine Partners, says back in the 1940s and ’50s it wasn’t uncommon to see doctors promoting cigarettes. They’d appear in advertisements, reassuring the public that certain brands were superior or even good for your health. It seems absurd now, doesn’t it? The idea of a medical professional – a figure we instinctively trust – being paid to promote something that’s obviously not good for our health.

Today, such a campaign would be unthinkable, thanks to strict regulations around tobacco control and widespread understanding of the dangers of smoking.

That chapter in history offers a cautionary analogy for the creator economy. The Alabuga Start scandal affecting African countries and our influencer industries is our cigarette-doctor moment: a reminder that the trust we trade on – the very currency of this ecosystem – is not guaranteed. It must be protected, and it must be earned.

A Betrayal Of Trust

For those unfamiliar, the scandal unfolded when influencers heavily promoted a programme called Alabuga Start as a work and study opportunity in Russia. The target audience? Young women aged 18-22. It was an enticing offer, especially on a continent facing a youth unemployment crisis. Countries like South Africa have had nearly half of their young people (aged 15-34) without work in the first quarter of 2025. Young women are disproportionately affected, as they face higher rates of unemployment compared to their male counterparts. Desperate for a way out, these young women were particularly vulnerable to promises of a legitimate-sounding job, even in a foreign land.

But as investigations and testimonies later revealed, the programme was a front for something far more sinister: labour in a Russian industrial military complex, where young workers were allegedly exposed to toxic chemicals, placed under constant surveillance and forced to work long hours to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The influencers who promoted the programme, some of whom have since issued apologies, were caught in the crossfire. They may have been misled about what they were promoting or they simply failed to conduct due diligence, but the outcome was the same: they became unwitting vectors for a harmful, exploitative scheme. The public backlash was swift and severe, a clear signal that audiences hold creators responsible for the content they promote.

Beyond The Backlash

This is more than just a public relations problem; it’s an existential threat to the influencer economy. Brands are increasingly investing in creator-led campaigns, with the creator economy in Africa currently valued at $3 billion and expected to grow to nearly $18 billion by 2030. This growth is built on a foundation of authenticity and trust. When that trust is eroded, even a single scandal can trigger a ripple effect that threatens the viability of the entire ecosystem.

The critical challenge lies in the fact that while we strive to establish more formal standards, similar to those implemented by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria or the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s South African Content Creator Charter in South Africa, many creators operate in an undefined space, lacking the oversight and accountability present in traditional media. Jobs are hard to come by in many African countries, and creators, like anyone else, are trying to monetise their work and build better lives. This makes them susceptible to enticing offers that lack legitimacy. It’s a complex situation that requires empathy, but empathy cannot come at the cost of accountability.

Across our continent, audiences are migrating from traditional media to social and video platforms. In the Reuters Digital News report, a staggering 59% of respondents in Nigeria and 58% in Kenya, respectively, said online influencers are a major source of false and misleading information. There must be room for companies, platforms and workers who build and sustain this economy to work together to change this narrative.

Despite these concerns from surveyed audiences, platforms are undeniably essential to the creator economy, enabling creators to turn passion into profits. The Alabuga scandal might not be an isolated incident, but it’s a learning moment – a chance for platforms, creators, and the brand partners who work with them to come together and build safeguards that prevent future controversies.

What Comes Next?

Pointing fingers rarely leads to lasting solutions. But building a collaborative framework for accountability might. This is not just the responsibility of influencers (though they must be extremely careful about what they post and promote); it’s a shared duty across the entire industry.

For agencies: It’s time to double down on vetting. We must use digital infrastructure to create a more efficient and transparent process for campaign management. Our platforms must have safeguards in place to prevent the promotion of harmful schemes. We need to leverage our collective experience to create a safer ecosystem for everyone by integrating feedback from past campaigns and negative news around certain brand practices into the process. If someone has been using creators to promote harmful programmes, the whole industry should know about it, and that information needs to be documented.

For platforms: Let’s work together to better understand the problems. When creators make content that causes harm, they breach your community standards and guidelines. As you take decisive action against such content, sharing data with the industry, or collaborating on a report exposing patterns of malicious promotions for what they are, will only benefit your communities and the broader content ecosystem.

For influencers: Your credibility is your most valuable asset. Before accepting a partnership, ask critical questions. Who is the client? What is the product or service? What are the testimonials and reviews? While we understand the pressure to monetise, a single poorly vetted promotion can cause irreparable damage to your reputation and career. What support do you need to make this a reality? We want to know because you are a powerful voice enabling the marketing and creative communications ecosystem of the future. Owning that will help you get insight into how to look at brand deals critically.

For the industry: We must be the advocates for ethical influencer marketing. This means working together to create enforceable frameworks that hold bad actors to account. This understanding will be crucial to designing campaigns that prioritise safety, transparency, and credibility. In the same way, governance frameworks exist for other elements of your business, like relationships with vendors and suppliers; a similar approach to formalising influencer relations is needed.

The Alabuga scandal is a painful but necessary reminder that the very trust that makes influencer work so effective can be weaponised. It’s a moment of reckoning. While the South African government has begun to address this issue, there remains a disconnect within the industry. We cannot continue to operate behind walls if we are to build a more robust, responsible, and ethical industry for all. Just as the medical profession no longer lends its trust to cigarette companies, we must ensure that the creator economy never again becomes a vehicle for exploitation. The future of the creator economy depends on it.

IRVINE PARTNERS
www.irvinepartners.co.za