Reinforcement of sanctions, new bans… After the National Assembly, the Senate is tackling a text on Tuesday aimed at better regulating the activity of influencers and fighting against excesses on social networks. Adopted unanimously at first reading at the end of March by the deputies, this transpartisan text, supported by Bercy and the Minister of SMEs Olivia Grégoire, gives a legal definition to influencers and prohibits certain practices.
With an estimated number of 150,000 influencers in France, of which only 15% would carry out this activity full-time, this booming sector is in the sights of associations, but also of the government, which has initiated the accelerated procedure on this text. Having become for some of the stars with millions of subscribers, influencers disseminate content on social networks that can greatly influence behavior, especially among the youngest.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) has published a damning study on their practices. Rapper Booba also served as a sounding board by attacking the high priestess of influencers Magali Berdah, who called him a “stalker”. The influencer was heard by the rapporteur for the text in the Senate, Amel Gacquerre (centrist), the rapper having for his part indicated that he would not go to the Luxembourg Palace. “I’m not looking to do politics, just to unmask these ‘influencers’ and fight the culture of emptiness. I let you do your job. Condemn them, punish them, thank you,” he tweeted.
“Sanctions, injunctions”
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire for his part announced last week that Bercy would make public “in the coming days” the names of influencers “who have not respected the rules”, a measure which is intended to be “deterrent to fight against commercial excesses. “Sanctions, injunctions, criminal proceedings” will be initiated, he promised.
Before the debate in the hemicycle, from Tuesday, the senators voted on an amended text in committee. “Work aimed at better protecting our public health, our youth, the consumers and savers that we are, has been carried out,” said the rapporteur. The senators reinforced in committee the penalties applicable if the advertising bans are not respected or if an influencer conceals the true commercial intention of his publication: up to two years of imprisonment (instead of 6 months in the text voted by the deputies) and a fine of 300,000 euros.
They have provided that influencers have the obligation to display the unique mention “Advertisement” on their commercial publications. To the prohibitions of certain practices provided for by the text, such as the promotion of cosmetic surgery, they added the prohibition of the promotion of therapeutic abstention, nicotine sachets whose sale on the Internet is developing among adolescents, or even subscriptions to sports betting predictions. They also want to force influencers promoting gambling to display a notice: “Forbidden to under eighteen years old. »