Media liability for traditional publishers and agencies may be easing, but the rise of influencers, YouTubers and online content creators is testing the limits of standard cover – and exposing dangerous gaps when clients rely on commercial general liability (CGL) alone, according to SWG’s Peter Kyung Min Kim (pictured).
Kim, senior professional lines underwriter at SWG, said rates and terms for legacy media risks – such as publishers, marketers and advertising agencies – have been softening in line with other professional classes.
“I would say it’s similar to the IT market in a way – the market is softening,” he said. “Capacity is there. I’ve seen the rates go down, and there is more flexibility with credits that we can apply towards this type of risk.”
That picture shifts when the conversation turns to new media. Kim said submissions involving influencers, YouTubers and other social media content creators have become far more common in recent years, and markets have been forced to adjust.
“Three or four years ago, you probably wouldn’t see ‘influencer’ or ‘YouTuber’ on your underwriting manuals,” he said. “But now those categories are clearly identified, and the market is not completely blocking off this type of risk, but we’re willing to look at it – we just want to make sure the exposure is something we can handle and understand.
One of the core challenges is jurisdiction. Even when a content creator is based in Canada, anything published online can be accessed around the world. That raises the prospect of claims being brought in more litigious environments.
“Anything you publish online could be clicked from pretty much anywhere,” Kim said. “We want to be particularly cautious with the work done in the US. A small misstep triggering US jurisdiction exposure could be a high exposure, even for a Canadian firm.”
Coverage design is another fault line. Kim said many content-driven businesses still come to market with only a CGL program in place. While CGL includes personal and advertising injury, its intent is not to insure a business whose primary product is media content.
“We frequently see digital creators insured under standalone CGL policies,” he said. “Standard CGL, even though there is coverage for personal and advertising injury, the intent is not to cover you if you’re in the business of professional media activities, including content creation.”
For those firms, he argued, media errors and omissions (E&O) coverage is essential. E&O responds to financial loss arising from content, where CGL will often contain exclusions that strip out media activities.
“It’s the media E&O coverage that you ultimately want to capture for your insured if they’re in this key media content creating business,” he said. “The E&O will fill in that gap where your standalone CGL will probably have the exclusion somewhere for any type of media content creation.”
On the claims side, Kim said the dominant themes for influencers and YouTubers are intellectual property and defamation.
“If you’re a YouTuber or social influencer, whatever you publish – it’s out there, and you can’t take it back, and exposure may already exist.”
He added that bodily injury and property damage exposures also arise, particularly when filming on location or using sets and studios, and that there is potential for cyber‑related events. But content‑liability remains the core concern.
Underwriting these accounts starts with understanding how central the online presence is to the business model.
“We first look at whether YouTube and these online social presences are really what makes their operation, or just a supplement to another operation,” he said. A professional services firm that happens to maintain a modest channel will be treated differently from a full‑time influencer whose entire income depends on content.
For the latter, Kim said underwriters focus on the nature of the content, how IP risks are managed, what controls exist to avoid plagiarism, and how sensitive the covered topics are.
“We’ll look at the content they’re creating, how they manage any type of IP exposures or any plagiarisms, or the sensitivity on the topics they cover,” he said.
He sees a growing role for brokers in identifying when a client’s risk has tipped into media territory and pushing for appropriate E&O alongside CGL. Relying on general liability alone, he warned, can leave content creators exposed precisely where they are most vulnerable.
