In recent months, many collectives, content creators and parliamentarians have been highlighting the abuses of this sector (influencer marketing), often decried and tainted by numerous controversies and scams, such as the dropshipping.
This week, a transpartisan text (Socialist Party/Renaissance) was debated and adopted in the National Assembly. What’s in it?
A new law for influencers
This law initially aims to create a legal status to better regulate commercial influence. Effectively, influencers are therefore defined by this new law as “ natural or legal persons who use their notoriety to communicate to the public by electronic means content aimed at promoting, directly or indirectly, goods, services or any cause whatsoever in return for an economic benefit or Natural Advantage “.
Influencer agents, too, will benefit from legal status, and obligations, such as always establishing a written contract between the influencers, the agency and the business partners.
In addition, to protect the mental health of young people, influencers will have to indicate if they use a filter or any other image editing device. They will also be obliged to mention in writing all their commercial partnerships, so as not to mislead the consumer. In addition, this law prohibits the promotion of cosmetic surgery or medicine, gambling, cryptocurrencies or even pharmaceutical products.
To raise awareness among the youngest, awareness-raising measures in schools against the excesses of influence marketing will also see the light of day.
Finally, this law aims to strengthen the protection of minors: to promote a child under the age of 16, his parents will have to obtain state approval, and 90% of the sums collected will be blocked until his majority. .
How will influencers be controlled?
To control potential abuses, the Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire announced the creation of a “commercial influence brigade”, made up of around fifteen agents from the Directorate General for Competition , consumption and the repression of fraud (DGCCRF).
In collaboration with the platforms, this brigade will be responsible for responding to reports from Internet users and transmitting the various elements to the justice system as soon as possible.
Did you know ? In the event of a deceptive commercial practice, the penalties may be up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros. In major cases, the influencer will no longer be able to exercise and their content will be blocked.
What about influencers abroad?
These rules will apply to all French influencers, even those residing abroad, “from the moment the content is broadcast in France”. Because we know: many of them live in particular in Dubai, where taxation is much more advantageous since there is no income tax.
A final step, the Senate
Now adopted at first reading and unanimously in the National Assembly, this text must now be debated in the Senate. This text could be definitively adopted in the coming months and enter into force before the end of the year.
LR