The creator dilemma: Speaking up may cost followers, but silence has a price too

From a commercial standpoint, however, taking a public position is rarely a straightforward positive or negative. It can deepen loyalty among one section of an audience while alienating another. For brands, the decision is usually driven less by whether a creator expressed an opinion and more by whether the creator remains aligned with the brand's values, target audience and overall risk profile. Increasingly, brands are evaluating long-term credibility, consistency and brand fit alongside reach and engagement, according to industry experts.

Citizen first

"Creators are citizens first, and like everyone else, they have their own opinions and beliefs. Having a political opinion only makes them more of a citizen. Sharing a political opinion often has an impact on engagement, whether positive or negative," said Shivani Wagh, a fashion and lifestyle content creator.

She added that when it comes to brand collaborations, the impact can vary. Since brands tend to be cautious around politically sensitive topics, a creator's public stance may influence future partnerships depending on the situation.

Jigisha Joshi, a fashion, beauty and lifestyle content creator, agreed that both groups faced criticism during the recent protests, albeit for different reasons. Creators who chose to stay silent were often questioned by their audiences.

"Of course, speaking up had consequences. I lost a few followers. Some people disagreed with me, which is completely fine. As for brands, I didn't notice any negative impact. In my experience, the brands I work with understood the difference between someone spreading hate and someone expressing an honest opinion respectfully," Joshi said.

Brand equation

According to Samay Kirad, co-founder of B.I.G Media Co, creators today are no longer merely distribution channels—they have become brands in their own right, building communities and trust around their opinions.

"The moment they take a stand they're naturally going to strengthen their relationship with one side and distance from another. That's how public disclosure works with choices and opinions. Looking at this from a brand perspective, it is less of the creator's personal opinions and more about if the brand has an appetite or opinion that matches with the creator," Kirad said.

During the recent protests, creators were far more responsive than reactive.

"I saw a lot of collaborations put on hold or cancelled if the creators thought that a certain brand would hamper their positioning and vice versa. The recent protest did teach us that creators would not refrain from putting their voices out there and at the least for any brands per se," he added.

To be sure, many believe most creators who spoke during the recent protests weren't being political in the traditional sense, but responding to a topic that was highly sensitive and widely discussed. The public mood was overwhelmingly on one side, making the commercial risk of speaking up lower than it appeared.

Girish 'Bobby' Talwar, founder, Rebellion, said brands don't evaluate whether a view is right or wrong. They evaluate whether it introduces controversy into their campaign.

"So campaigns got pushed, not pulled. That's not ideology. That's campaign timing. Whether creators who spoke up were being political or just topical is something brands need to look at much more closely now before they start pulling the plug on campaigns," Talwar said.

Changing calculus

Entertainment industry experts emphasize that most brands—especially large multinational companies—continue to prioritize safe, mass-appeal environments and view political polarisation as a potential risk to returns.

Prafulla Kumar Jha, founder of JEEVMEDIA, believes the recent protests also saw creators exercising greater caution. Many realised that while engagement often spikes during controversial events, those spikes don't always translate into a sustainable long-term business model.

"Creators are increasingly asking themselves: Is this stance core to my identity, or is it a short-term reaction? The smartest ones are learning to balance authenticity with a strategic understanding of how their audience perceives them," Jha explained.

Further, not every creator has built the same kind of relationship with their audience.

Jag Chima, co-founder at IPLIX Media, said some creators are known for discussing social or public issues, so their audiences naturally expect them to participate in such conversations. Others have built their platforms around comedy, technology, fashion or food, where remaining silent is entirely consistent with the type of content they produce.

The contrast between creators and film actors in taking public positions has also become increasingly apparent.

Dane Pereira, A&R head at NoFlitr Group, said that while actors build fame through their performances, supported by large-scale marketing and PR campaigns around film releases, creators earn loyalty by building communities through relatable content and authentic audience engagement.

Both paths come with very different relationships with power, he added. While Bollywood often appears closer to authorities and therefore more cautious about questioning those in power, creators tend to be more closely aligned with the public sentiment of the communities that follow and engage with them.

"Creators own their audience directly while actors rent theirs. Their reach is intermediated by studios, streamers and endorsement deals, assets other people control and so the downside of speaking is diffuse, uninsurable, and lands on parties who never signed up for the risk. So an actor going quiet isn't necessarily conviction-free; it's rational risk management when your livelihood sits inside contracts you don't hold the pen on," said Subarna Mukherjee, founder and global CEO, Shop Culture.