It’s a platform that makes noise, but did its signatories really want to sign for it? The most followed Frenchman on YouTube, Squeezie noted on Sunday evening “the error of giving (his) agreement for (his) name to appear” among the signatures of a forum, which he describes as “very clumsy”, published on same day in the Journal du Dimanche. Also a signatory, Nozman also dissociated himself, when the streamer Gotaga or the Youtubeur Cyprien say that they never signed this text.
In this forum, 150 influencers and content creators called on deputies not to break their “model” when a bill must be examined to regulate their activity. In particular, the government wants to subject them to the “same advertising rules” as the traditional media. “We hear about influencers, of the battle to be waged against us. We believe this is a mistake. That a minority has become a generality,” they lament. “To consider us as a threat is to discredit and despise part of the youth”, further support the signatory influencers.
But now this text, according to which the activity of these content creators, some of whom do controversial advertising, should not be regulated, is now controversial. Nozman, a science popularization specialist via his YouTube channel, was the first to set foot in the dish. “When I was told about it a few days ago, I was told that it would be hyper-restrictive for us creators, that abusive control would be imposed, etc… When I see the reality, and things proposed, I believe that most of them are necessary to move in the right direction, and that they precisely target real problems and dangers,” he wrote in a message posted on Twitter.
“I should have been more vigilant and taken my time. I am not on that side, I am for a more ethical and transparent creation, continues in its press release Nozman. Our work must be better supervised to avoid creepy drifts made by certain people and certain agencies on these platforms. (…) I should have been more vigilant and conscientious in reading this text. »
“I have always been irreproachable and transparent”
Later, Squeezie, followed by 18 million people on YouTube, admitted a “mistake”. “I was presented with this forum as a way to defend ourselves against overly extreme laws, which could have wrongly penalized honest content creators,” he wrote in a message posted on Twitter. In reality, this forum makes no distinction between content creators and influencers, and just seems to try to limit the damage on malicious influencers. »
“As you know, I have always been irreproachable and transparent in my work with the brands that allow me to finance my content”, also writes Squeezie, pointing the finger at certain signatories, “at the very origin of the problem”. “I am not impacted by these laws, I have nothing to lose with this reform which is intended to regulate immoral product placements, mainly made by malicious influencers”, he continues, claiming not to have read the text. before its publication.
Signatory of the platform, Alix Grousset wanted to “present (his) apologies if this sounds like a desire to prevent any regulation”, she wrote in a message on Twitter. “My goal has always been to fight scammers by trying to distinguish between creators who do their job properly,” she continues.
Gotaga, who is also on the list of signatories, replied on Twitter that he had “never signed anything like that”. And the streamer to continue: “I think it’s the same for at least 90% of the list. “Same thing for Cyprien, who said on Twitter to have “never signed this thing”. “I did not sign anything”, also noted Henry Tran, explaining that he had only been asked for his “agreement in principle”, which he had given, but discovered this Sunday the text and its signatories. And the influencer to write: “I am obviously against practices that would endanger my subscribers and it is a good thing that a framework is currently being studied. »