“Do not break our model” because of the “excesses of a minority”, launched Sunday to the deputies 150 influencers, including stars like McFly, Squeezie, Cyprien, Just Riadh or Sananas, before the examination next week of a bill to regulate their activity.
“We hear about influencersof fight to fight against us. We believe this is a mistake. That a minority has become a generality ”, plead the influencers in a column published in the Journal du Dimanche.
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, presented a battery of measures on Friday to regulate a sector so far largely unconstrained. In particular, he wants to subject the 150,000 French influencers, who often make a living from promoting products, to the “same advertising rules” as the traditional media. A public consultation was conducted in January to establish consumer expectations.
“Some made believe that they were representative”
These Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and TikTok stars are worried about being equated with those accused of misleading consumers. “Your only compass should be the protection of consumers from the excesses of a minority who thinks everything is permitted and the preservation of our activities and the jobs we create. Do not break the virtuous model that we are building in the four corners of France with and for the French. Understand it, protect it, grow it,” influencers ask.
“Scams, counterfeits, questionable business practices, some have made people believe in recent months that they are representative of our sector when they only represent a minority. It is their abuses that we first want to denounce,” they insist.
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“We are certainly not perfect. We made mistakes. But our priority is and always will be the protection of consumers, of our communities. We are in favor of a framework for the sector”, assure the signatories, several of whom formed a federation in mid-January, the Union of influence professions and content creators (Umicc).
“The debate is not about being for or against influence”
“We are not walking billboards”, asking MPs not to “view them as a threat” or “undermine a thriving economy” which represents “thousands of jobs” by helping to promote businesses.
They also point to the lack of consideration of which they may be victims: “To consider us as a threat is to discredit and despise part of French youth”, they assure before concluding that “the debate is not about be for or against the influence”.
In January, the repression of fraud (DGCCRF) published a damning investigation into the practices of the sector, with deception on the products sold, promotion of risky sports bets, even injections “by beauticians and non-health professionals ” . The cross-partisan bill to be considered this week also plans to ban the promotion of cosmetic surgery.