Excessive marketing: France tries to curb influencers
France is trying to rein in influencers
Is it possible to regulate the influencer sector? That’s what two French MPs want, who are debating a bill to define a professional framework and toughen the law for those who break advertising rules.
In France, 60% of the more than sixty agencies and influencers targeted by the Repression of Fraud since 2021 did not comply with advertising and consumer rights regulations.
Marvin Meyer / Unsplash
Presenting the overall bill on Wednesday, MPs Arthur Delaport and Stefan Vojetta asserted that the challenge was to “regulate the jungle” and “end the legal vacuum”.
Among other things, it plans to create a legal status for influencers and prohibit them from promoting certain products (medicines, financial investments, etc.).
The text will be examined in the Assembly until the end of March.
On Monday, a collective called AVI (Aid to Influencer Victims) announced legal action by dozens of people, specifically for “fraud” and “breach of trust.”
They believe they were duped into investing in financial products promoted by famous influencers, including Mark and Nade Blata.
Money-money
The announcements follow the outbreak of a highly publicized conflict that threw the sector into turmoil last year: it pitted rapper Boob against Magali Berdah, head of influencer agency Shauna Events.
The former criticizes the latter for encouraging fraud (undeliverable goods, substandard products, etc.); in return, he accuses her of cyberstalking. The court started two investigations.
In the process, the government launched a series of meetings and public consultations in December with the aim of better regulating the practices. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire will announce any decisions by March.
These controversies allowed the general public to re-discover the concept of “influencer”, people who spread content on their social networks and whose opinions can influence the consumption patterns of their subscribers.
The biggest ones are stars and have millions of subscribers on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok.
An advertising vector that doesn’t shy away from brands: so-called “influencer marketing,” the premium paid by influencers to promote their products, has exploded in recent years.
In 2021, it represented a global market valued at around 12 billion euros, a simple publication on social networks can earn the biggest influencers tens of thousands of euros.
“Paid Friends”
On Monday, the Fraud Enforcement Directorate (DGCCRF) published a damning investigation into the sector’s commercial practices.
More than 60 agencies and 60% of influencers targeted since 2021 did not comply with advertising and consumer rights regulations.
Cheating on menus, products sold, promotion of risky sports betting, even injections “by cosmetologists and non-health professionals”, according to the DGCCRF.
Faced with these controversies, agencies specializing in relationships between brands and influencers announced on January 18 the creation of the first professional federation, Umicc (Union of Influencer Professions and Content Creators).
It intends to impose rules on its members, including the obligation to have tax residency in France for agencies and in the European Union for content creators.
This would effectively exclude celebrities operating in Dubai, a tax-efficient residence popular with influencers.
For media economist Olivier Bomsel, the relevance is to give influencers “publisher status”, removing uncertainty about their relationship with the public.
“You have to treat them like billboards,” he told AFP. “It’s important to show that they have a commercial status and not a free friend status. They give money, friends with money.”
AFP
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