The Mawthooq (موثوق) Licence: What Brands Must Verify Before Paying an Influencer in Saudi Arabia

The Mawthooq (موثوق) licence is the permit an individual in Saudi Arabia must hold before publishing paid advertising on social media. For a brand, it is the first thing to check before any money changes hands: a paid post from an unlicensed creator exposes the campaign to penalties under the Audiovisual Media Law. In a market where 70% of consumers trust an influencer's recommendation more than traditional advertising (Saudi market reports 2025-2026; Statista), influencer budgets are too valuable to leave unprotected.

What is the Mawthooq licence, who issues it, and what does it cost?

Mawthooq is the official licence for individuals' advertising on social media, issued by the General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM), since renamed the General Authority for Media Regulation (GAMR), under the Audiovisual Media Law. It has been mandatory since 1 October 2022 and costs SAR 15,000 for a three-year term, as reported by Arab News.

Its full Arabic name is "ترخيص موثوق لإعلانات الأفراد عبر منصات التواصل الاجتماعي", and its approval was announced through the Saudi Press Agency. In practice it puts a named, accountable person behind every paid post, binds that person to the Kingdom's content rules, and gives brands documentable proof that they contracted a legitimate advertiser.

Two dates matter for brands. The publishing date: any paid post published after 1 October 2022 needs a licence behind it. And the expiry date: the first licences, issued in late 2022, reached the end of their three-year term in late 2025 unless renewed, so a certificate you saw two years ago may no longer be valid. Verify on every campaign, not once per creator.

Who must hold a Mawthooq licence in Saudi Arabia?

Any Saudi individual who earns money by advertising on social media must hold a Mawthooq licence. Non-Saudi residents cannot apply on the same track: they must first obtain a permit through the Ministry of Investment and then work through a licensed advertising agency (Arab News).

The trigger is compensation, not follower count. A nano creator with 3,000 followers who receives a paid product placement is advertising, just as a mega account is. This matters because nano and micro creators deliver up to 60% higher engagement than mega accounts (global benchmarks 2025-2026) and increasingly anchor Saudi campaigns, so verification has to scale to dozens of creators, not one headline name.

How does a brand verify that a creator is licensed?

Ask for the licence document before you negotiate rates, then check four things: the licence is in the creator's own name, that name matches the person or company you will pay, the validity dates cover the full publishing window, and the social account in the brief is the one the creator actually operates.

1. Request the certificate and licence number up front. Make it a condition of the first conversation, not a formality at signature.
2. Match names, not handles. The licence is issued to a person. Confirm the licensed name matches the invoicing name and the bank beneficiary.
3. Check the dates against the schedule. A post scheduled for month three needs a licence still valid in month three.
4. For non-Saudi residents, verify the agency. The contract should sit with the licensed advertising agency representing them, with that agency's own licence on file.
5. Keep the evidence together. Store the licence copy, signed contract and published post URL in one campaign file.

At scale, this is the step that breaks. The Chuck E. Cheese grand opening in Al-Taif generated 581K+ views on TikTok in a single day; a launch like that leaves no room for a licensing question on the morning of the event. A 40-creator UGC campaign such as Moka & Co (915K+ views) means 40 licence checks before the first brief goes out.

What happens if an unlicensed creator posts a paid ad?

Publishing paid advertising without a licence is a violation of the Audiovisual Media Law and is penalised under it. Osiria cites fines that can reach SAR 5 million, alongside the fallout a brand feels first: a campaign halted mid-flight and a reputation question it never planned for.

The exposure is not limited to the creator: the brand paid for the post and benefited from the reach, so its name is attached to any question that follows, and one unverified creator can put an otherwise compliant campaign at risk. With influencer spend in the Kingdom at around 400 million SAR in 2025 and projected to reach around 780 million SAR by 2030 (Saudi market reports 2025-2026; Statista; Mordor Intelligence), the sums at stake grow every year.

How do you write Mawthooq compliance into the influencer contract?

Put the licence into the contract as a warranty, an annex and a termination trigger. The creator warrants that they hold a valid Mawthooq licence (or, for a non-Saudi resident, that the representing agency is licensed), a copy is attached as an annex, and loss or expiry of the licence during the term gives the brand the right to suspend payment and replace the creator.

• Warranty of licence. A clear statement that the creator holds a valid licence covering the agreed services, with the licence number written into the clause.
• Licence annex. The certificate attached to the contract so the warranty is verifiable, not just a promise.
• Validity for the term. An obligation to keep the licence valid until the last deliverable is published and, where the brand holds content rights, for the usage period.
• Disclosure obligation. A duty to label every paid post as advertising in line with platform rules and Saudi regulations.
• Indemnity. The creator bears fines and losses arising from their own non-compliance.
• Replacement right. If the licence lapses or the creator fails to deliver, the brand may replace them without penalty.

This is a practical checklist, not legal advice; have counsel adapt the clauses to your entity. A contract silent on licensing leaves the brand carrying the risk.

What is ad-disclosure best practice for Saudi campaigns?

Label every paid post clearly, in the language of the audience, using both the platform's built-in tool and a visible caption tag. In Saudi Arabia that means "إعلان" or "#إعلان" for Arabic content and "Ad" or "Paid partnership" for English content, placed where the viewer sees it before engaging, not buried under hashtags.

• On TikTok, enable the branded-content setting and run the strongest posts as Spark Ads so the disclosure travels with the paid amplification. With TikTok reaching around 88% of Saudi users and ranking as the most widespread platform in the Kingdom (Saudi market reports 2025-2026; Statista), TikTok-first discipline covers most of your reach.
• On Instagram, use the paid-partnership label and Partnership Ad Codes whenever the brand plans to boost the post.
• On Snapchat, keep the disclosure in the first frame or in on-screen text, since Stories disappear quickly.
• Advertise only products and services that are themselves licensed in the Kingdom, and keep claims factual; the licence commits the creator to that standard (Clyde & Co).

How does an agency handle licence compliance for you?

At Osiria, Mawthooq verification is a guarantee, not an add-on: every influencer is verified before contracting, drawing on a live database of 120,000+ creators and 250+ fully managed campaigns. Our AI-powered creator platform adds fraud scoring (clean, watch, likely fraud, confirmed fraud) and an Audience Quality Score, so a creator who passes the licence check is also put through an audience check.

Our full-service model adds a dedicated account manager, a creative brief matched to each creator's voice, a replacement guarantee and content rights that pass to the brand; the results are in our case studies.

Key takeaways

• Mawthooq is the mandatory licence for individuals' paid social media advertising in Saudi Arabia, issued by GCAM (now GAMR); in force since 1 October 2022; SAR 15,000 for three years (Arab News).
• Non-Saudi residents go through the Ministry of Investment and a licensed advertising agency.
• Verify before negotiating: name, dates, account and, for residents, the agency. Repeat on every campaign because licences expire.
• Violations are penalised under the Audiovisual Media Law, with fines that can reach SAR 5 million (figure cited by Osiria).
• Write it into the contract (warranty, annex, validity, disclosure, indemnity, replacement) and disclose every paid post in the audience's language.

If you are planning a campaign in Saudi Arabia and want every creator verified before a single riyal is committed, talk to Osiria or message us on WhatsApp (+966 54 782 2676). Creator mapping, licence confirmation and compliance clauses are built into every brief. Influence, Engineered.