Bill in France wants to regulate digital influencers

The French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, presented a bill in France that tries to regulate the digital influencers in the country. If approved, it will be the first rule in Europe to impose a specific law on influencers. The French government sees the activity of influencers as a job without clear rules and, therefore, needs to be taken seriously. See in this article the developments of the project and the position of French politicians on the proposal.

Conflicts of digital influencers with French law

The government of Emmanuel Macron supports the bill, having already held some hearings on the subject. Before, the theme took shape thanks to the placement of fake products and fraudulent schemes by influencers in France. Current legislation in the country, for the time being, pays attention to the transparency of advertising, as it obliges content producers to show that they are promoting some brand, product or service.

Along with these meetings to evaluate online content creators, the French economy minister also showed a report that points out that these producers are not respecting the current laws on advertising. As a result, the document shows that six out of ten French influencers do not act according to the norms that are in practice.

In response, the creators claim that they disagree with the project, because a few “bad apples” should not be a reason to generalize the activity of digital influencers. Carine Fernandez, president of the newly created Union des Métiers de l'Influence et des Créateurs de Contenu (Union of Influence and Content Creation Professionals, in free translation), UMICC, tries to exempt people who work with virtual influence from possible errors involving the promotion of a product.

“In general, common mistakes happen due to lack of information or by creators who, sometimes, end up discovering that they went viral overnight, without knowing much about the laws that must be respected”.

Carine Fernandez, President of UMICC.

What does the bill in France apply to influencers?

The new law, if passed, will require digital influencers to place some kind of notice, either in photos or videos, about the advertising they are doing. Thus, posts that show this only in the description or as a hashtag of the content will be considered irregular. At the same time, if any creator uses images that have filters or other more elaborate editing, they must include some type of label that indicates that the content is promotional.

Still, the proposal wants to protect the activity of creators, preventing influencers from advertising plastic surgery. Even before this discussion, the traditional media in France already have specific legislation to limit the promotion of financial products, in addition to restricting advertisements about products such as alcohol and cigarettes. There, it is also not allowed to publish content that promotes foods with high levels of sugar or salt.

How the proposal defines the activity

The proposed law points out that influencers are people who use their notoriety to be able to promote causes, goods, services, products, “in exchange for some economic benefit or other type of advantage”. Parliamentarian Stéphane Vojetta, from President Emmanuel Macron's party, Reinsance, was responsible for creating this introduction available in the project.

In addition to Vojetta, Socialist Party member Arthur Delaporte also signs the regulation under discussion. He stated to Le Monde that the proposal does not come to be a confrontation of the law against content producers on the internet, but to try to mitigate risks that can be dangerous and that have a chance of leading to financial losses and even damage to health.

“The reference framework [of the project] does not mean that all influencers are involved with dubious practices. This is true for a visible and significant minority among them, and the consequences are devastating.”

Arthur Delaporte

The most notable names in the universe of digital content producers in France mostly come from television. When successful within digital networks, in general, creators look for brands to support them financially, managing to profit, on average, up to 5 thousand euros per year. However, sometimes this work with online media falls short when it comes to transparency and authenticity.

Sanctions and punishments provided for in the bill

If the project is approved, the change in French legislation will contain punishments and a fine of up to 375 euros, in addition to imprisonment and suspension of accounts in digital media temporarily or even permanently. The proposal also has a forecast for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to update their channels according to the rules, forcing them to create means for users to report the fraud they find on their feed.

Attentive to the definition of rules for advertisements in posts, the platforms themselves are now forcing users to notify that their content contains some advertising. In adherence to the regulation to be discussed about this, the country's Minister of Economy said that he will put 15 employees of his cabinet to evaluate fraud alerts and to define whether these warnings should be considered by any court.

Is there any Brazilian regulation for internet influencers?

The objective of bill 2347 of 2022, prepared by deputy José Nelto of the Progressive Party (PP/GO), is to have a national register of digital influencers. In Brazil, this is the most recent proposal that seeks to regulate the activity, with the provision of a requirement for proof of technical knowledge on the part of content creators.

This regulation still in draft may oblige a content creator who talks about cosmetics, for example, to prove that he has some knowledge on the subject. The deputy’s proposal was received at the Commission for Work, Administration and Public Service of the Chamber of Deputies, having been there since September 2022.

See also:

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Source: RFI | Le Monde | Câmara dos Deputados

reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 5 / 4 / 23.