They denounce “unjust and excessive” remarks. Pointed out in a complaint linked to suspicions of online scams, the couple of influencers Marc and Nadé Blata (Marc T. and Nadira B., their real names) firmly reject, through their lawyer, the charges against them. They, in this context, filed a complaint on Tuesday for “slanderous denunciations”, indicates to the Parisian their lawyer, Me Alexandre Lazarègue.
At the end of January, the AVI collective (Help for the Victims of Influencers) filed a complaint for organized fraud against X and against Marc and Nadé Blata, denouncing two cases which would have caused losses of several million euros among their subscribers. The first concerned an NFT project, a cryptoactive using Pokémon codes and put forward by Marc Blata. The project, according to the plaintiffs, however, was not followed up. The other case concerned a trading program, also touted by Marc Blata, promising considerable gains. But several plaintiffs believe they have been encouraged to invest in a system that only results in losses.
On the merits, the couple of influencers reject the accusations of scam. “The remarks made by the complainants, that is to say organized gang scam et breach of trustappeared to us to be totally inaccurate in relation to the facts they may have committed, ”explains the advice of the two personalities.
Possible “failures”
Very active on social networks, Marc and Nadé Blata ensure that they have not enriched themselves through false projects and crooked entrepreneurs. They believe that they simply did their job as “influencers”, promoting these programs with “remuneration in return”, and income from affiliations and businesses that seemed viable to them, adds their lawyer.
“They alerted to the risks of the speculative nature of these investments, but perhaps they did not do it sufficiently in accordance with the law”, admits the council, not excluding “breaches of consumer law “. He assures, in any case, that Marc and Nadé Blata “did not want to betray the trust of their subscribers”.
Basically, for the lawyer, the complaints against his clients might not have any value. “We are not even sure that they are subject to French consumer law”, he slips, because of the domicile of the Blata company in Dubai, and that of the Vantage trading platform. FX, denounced by the plaintiffs, in Australia. In these cases, Marc and Nadé “are in a way only advertisers”, declares the lawyer. “They are not the trading platforms. It is in conscience that each of the individuals invests on these platforms. »
The Blatas “attentive” to the debates
Believing to be the victim of “unfair and excessive” remarks, the couple therefore filed a complaint against X and against the AVI collective, at the origin of the complaint, for “slanderous denunciations”. The announcement of the complaints launched by the victims is expensive for the two influencers: Meta closed, in the process, their Instagram accounts, through which they made many partnerships. “The consequences for them are immense financially,” laments Alexandre Lazarègue. “There was no adversarial debate with social networks,” he continues, announcing the launch of a legal action to reopen the banned accounts.
This new complaint for “slanderous denunciations” is part of a now long fight with, on the one hand, several influencers and their agents, lambasted from all sides for suspicions of online scams and dubious promotions and, on the other hand, other, whistleblowers and victims increasingly relayed in the press and on social networks, sometimes gathered in collectives.
On this point, Marc and Nadé Blata say, through the voice of their lawyer, “attentive” to the ongoing debates, while a bill is brought by two deputies on the supervision of the work of influencers. “They await this text with great impatience and will be happy to submit to it”, confides Alexandre Lazarègue.
The Ministry of the Economy also revealed on Wednesday the results of a public consultation conducted online with thousands of Internet users. In particular, they spoke out in favor of more controls and sanctions against the bad practices of influencers, both on the part of the authorities and the platforms. A majority of respondents also defended the idea of a ban on certain product placements, such as those harmful to health or financial.