transparency on the use of filters, guide to good conduct… Measures presented to regulate the activity of influencers

Ban on promoting cosmetic surgery, transparency on the use of filters, guide to good conduct… A battery of measures was presented on Friday March 24 to regulate the activity of influencers on social networks. The government has announced that it wants to submit influencers “to the same rules” advertising than traditional media. Most of these measures will be translated into a cross-partisan bill tabled by MPs Stéphane Vojetta (related to Renaissance) and Arthur Delaporte (PS), examined in public session at the National Assembly next week.

“While it is a formidable vector of creativity and economic wealth, anchored in the daily lives of millions of our compatriots, this sector suffers from non-existent or too vague rules”declared the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, after three months of consultation open to stakeholders and ordinary citizens.

The authorities want to give themselves the means to sanction bad practices, via a “new power of injunction under penalty” to force the influencer to remove illegal content or the platform to suspend their account. Finally, it is planned to prohibit all promotion of cosmetic surgery activities and to oblige influencers to report when they use a filter to artificially improve their appearance, on the model of the rules applying to advertisements.