the first law governing the sector definitively adopted by Parliament

2023-06-01 16:19:58

Promotion of dangerous remedies, accusations of fraud … To fight against the abuse of certain stars of social networks, Parliament definitively adopted Thursday 1^is June a transpartisan text to regulate the jungle of influencers. After the Assembly on Wednesday, it is a new unanimity of 342 senators from all political stripes which marked the adoption of the text of the deputies Arthur Delaporte (Socialist Party) and Stéphane Vojetta (related Renaissance, presidential majority). “We can congratulate ourselves on this unprecedented agreement”greeted the rapporteur for the Senate Amel Gacquerre (Centrist Union).

For the government, which supports the initiative, the Minister Delegate for Trade Olivia Grégoire welcomed “the commitment of parliamentarians” et “the quality of this work”. Influencers are estimated at 150,000 in France, but the actions of some of them have placed them under fire from critics.

Plaintiffs have launched class actions, a damning study has been published by the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), and rapper Booba has also played a sounding board role through his attacks on social networks. Since Wednesday, influencers Illan Castronovo and Simon Castaldi have been forced to post a message from the DGCCRF on social networks warning against some of their content.

Many influencers have a modest audience, but some stars with millions of subscribers can influence consumer behavior, especially among young people. “The influencers will continue to exercise. The influencers will still exist but will know that the law is there to punish them”, insists Arthur Delaporte. The text “will protect consumers, especially the youngest”promises Stéphane Vojetta.

Read also: Influencers: deputies and senators agree on a text which intends to “put an end to the law of the jungle”

The promotion of products containing prohibited nicotine

The text begins by giving a legal definition of this profession still under construction: these are people who, for remuneration or benefits in kind, “mobilize their notoriety with their audience to communicate” on line “content intended to promote, directly or indirectly, goods, services or any cause”.

The text plans to prohibit the promotion of certain practices, such as cosmetic surgery or “therapeutic abstention”. It prohibits or severely regulates the promotion of several medical devices. It prohibits the promotion of products containing nicotine, and recalls submission to the Evin law. But the Association Addictions France regrets that it does not go further by prohibiting the promotion of alcohol.

It also attacks sports betting and games of chance: influencers will no longer be able to promote subscriptions to sports predictions, and the promotion of games of chance and money will be confined to platforms that technically allow to prohibit minors from accessing the video.

The penalties provided for in the event of a breach will be up to two years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros. The proposed law also prohibits stagings with animals whose possession is prohibited. When promotional images, for cosmetics for example, are retouched by means of a filter to make them more attractive, this should be mentioned.

Read the decryption: Article reserved for our subscribers Influencers: a litany of businesses around their practices and their promotions

Coaching of influencer agents

Thursday, several senators insisted on the need to strengthen the means of the supervisory authorities in the future, in particular those of the DGCCRF and the Financial Markets Authority. “Sheriffs are multiple and must have the means to work properly”recalled Amel Gacquerre.

The world

Special offer for students and teachers

Access all our unlimited content from 8.99 euros per month instead of 10.99 euros

Subscribe

THE “influencer agents” will also be supervised. A written contract will be mandatory when the sums involved exceed a certain threshold. The text also provides for accountability measures for the platforms.

While many successful influencers operate from abroad, such as in Dubai, the text wants to require those who operate from outside the European Union, Switzerland or the European Economic Area to take out civil insurance in The union. The stated goal is to create a jackpot to compensate potential victims. They will also have to appoint a legal representative in the EU.

At the end of March, the Union of Influencers and Content Creators (Umicc), which recently represents agencies in the sector, had welcomed “commendable and essential proposals”. But she had alerted parliamentarians to the risk of “discriminate or over-regulate” some actors.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The influencer, modern figure of the “self-made-man”

The World with AFP