Compliance Checker

Compliance Checker

Audit affiliate content for FTC compliance, platform-specific rules, and legal requirements. Checks disclosure placement, prohibited claims, endorsement guidelines, and platform policies. Output is a compliance scorecard with issues, severity, and fix suggestions.

Stage

S8: Meta — The FTC has fined affiliates $4.2M+ for undisclosed endorsements. One missing disclosure can result in legal action, platform bans, or program termination. This skill is the safety net — run it on any content before publishing to catch compliance issues before they become problems.

When to Use

• User wants to check content before publishing
• User asks about FTC rules or affiliate disclosure requirements
• User is unsure if their content is compliant
• User says "is this legal?", "do I need a disclosure?", "check my post"
• User is preparing content for a platform with strict ad policies (Facebook, Google)
• Chaining: run after any S2-S5 or S7 content-producing skill before publishing
• User wants to audit existing published content

Input Schema

content: string                # REQUIRED — the content to check (text, markdown, or HTML)

content_type: string           # REQUIRED — "social_post" | "blog" | "landing_page"
                               # | "email" | "ad" | "video_script"

platform: string               # OPTIONAL — "linkedin" | "twitter" | "reddit" | "facebook"
                               # | "tiktok" | "youtube" | "google_ads" | "pinterest"
                               # Platform-specific rules applied if provided

claims:                        # OPTIONAL — specific claims to verify
  - string                     # e.g., ["earn $10K/month", "guaranteed results"]

Chaining context: If content was produced by S2-S5 or S7 in the same conversation, pull it directly. The user should not have to paste content that was just generated.

Workflow

Step 1: Detect Affiliate Links

Scan content for:

• URLs with affiliate parameters (ref=, aff=, partner=, UTM tags)
• Shortened URLs (bit.ly, etc.) that may hide affiliate links
• Product mentions that imply a commercial relationship

Step 2: Check FTC Disclosure

Read shared/references/ftc-compliance.md for rules. Check:

• Presence: Is there a disclosure? (required if any affiliate link exists)
• Placement: Is the disclosure before or near the affiliate link? (not buried at the bottom)
• Clarity: Is it clear to a reasonable consumer? ("affiliate link" is clear; "partner" alone is not)
• Format by content type:
  • Social post: #ad or Affiliate link visible without expanding
  • Blog: Disclosure in the opening paragraph, above the fold
  • Landing page: Medium disclosure above the fold
  • Email: Disclosure near the affiliate link
  • Ad: Platform-specific requirements

Step 3: Check Prohibited Claims

Scan for:

• Income claims: "earn $X", "make money fast", "passive income guaranteed"
• False urgency: "only 3 left" (if not verifiable), "offer expires" (if no real deadline)
• Health/medical claims: unsubstantiated health benefits
• Guaranteed results: "guaranteed to work", "100% success rate"
• Fake scarcity: "limited spots" (if not actually limited)
• Fake testimonials: results that aren't typical without disclaimer

Step 4: Check Platform Rules

If platform is provided, apply platform-specific rules:

• Reddit: Self-promotion rules (10:1 ratio), must disclose in post
• Facebook/Instagram: Branded Content tool, "Paid Partnership" label for ads
• Google Ads: Clear commercial intent, no misleading claims, landing page requirements
• TikTok: #ad or Paid Partnership toggle, no medical/financial advice claims
• YouTube: Verbal + written disclosure in first 30 seconds, "Includes paid promotion" checkbox

Step 5: Score and Report

Rate compliance on three levels:

• PASS: No issues found
• WARN: Minor issues that should be fixed (e.g., disclosure placement could be better)
• FAIL: Critical issues that must be fixed before publishing (e.g., no disclosure at all)

Step 6: Generate Fixes

For each issue, provide:

• What's wrong (specific quote from content)
• Why it matters (rule reference)
• How to fix it (specific replacement text)

Step 7: Self-Validation

Before presenting output, verify:

• All affiliate links in the content are detected and flagged
• Disclosure placement check matches platform-specific rules
• Prohibited claims identified with exact quotes from content
• Fix suggestions are copy-paste ready and preserve original tone
• Corrected content would pass a re-scan by this same skill

If any check fails, fix the output before delivering. Do not flag the checklist to the user — just ensure the output passes.

Output Schema

output_schema_version: "1.0.0"  # Semver — bump major on breaking changes
compliance:
  overall_score: string        # "PASS" | "WARN" | "FAIL"
  disclosure_present: boolean
  disclosure_placement: string # "correct" | "needs_improvement" | "missing"
  prohibited_claims: number    # count of issues found
  platform_issues: number      # count of platform-specific issues

issues:
  - severity: string          # "critical" | "warning" | "info"
    category: string          # "disclosure" | "claims" | "platform" | "formatting"
    description: string       # what's wrong
    quote: string             # the problematic text
    fix: string               # suggested replacement

corrected_content: string      # full content with all fixes applied

Output Format

1. Compliance Scorecard — overall score, disclosure status, issue counts
2. Issues Found — table with severity, category, description, and fix
3. Corrected Content — the full content with all issues fixed (copy-paste ready)
4. Platform Notes — any platform-specific requirements not yet addressed

Error Handling

• No content provided: "Paste the content you want me to check, or tell me which skill output to review. I'll check it for FTC compliance and platform rules."
• Content has no affiliate links: "No affiliate links detected. FTC disclosure is only required for content with material connections (affiliate links, sponsored content, gifted products). Your content looks clean."
• Unknown platform: "I don't have specific rules for [platform]. I'll check general FTC compliance. For platform-specific rules, check the platform's advertising policy page."