Dozens of controlled influencers have been reprimanded by Fraud Control, which accuses them of engaging in deceptive commercial practices, particularly in terms of product promotion.
More than 300 influencers were checked in 2022 and 2023 by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), determined to fight, through verification, against excesses on social networks. In the majority of cases, the Ministry of the Economy entity noted deceptive commercial practices. More than ever, influencers are under pressure.
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SignalConso is an online platform and mobile application developed by the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression). It allows consumers to report a problem encountered with a product or company.
SignalConso is an online platform and mobile application developed by the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression). It allows consumers to report a problem encountered with a product or company.
Dozens of influencers sanctioned, 35 criminally prosecuted
Over the last two years, 300 influencers have been specifically controlled on social networks: 98 in 2022 and 212 in 2013, the DGCCRF being helped by the law of June 9, 2023, which came to regulate the practice and give a concrete definition of the ‘activity. Among the platforms studied, we find the popular Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter (now X.com), YouTube, Snapchat and even Telegram.
At the end of its two years of investigations, the Fraud Repression took stock of the races. In total, it sent 35 warnings to influencers whose breaches were only occasional.
On the other hand, she was less tender with those who deliberately engaged in the most serious practices. 81 injunctions for compliance were thus issued, and 35 criminal proceedings were launched. Why were these influencers specifically singled out?
Influencers correct their mistakes, most of the time
If we do the math, we see that almost half of the influencers controlled by the DGCCRF fall outside the legal framework for different reasons: promotion of prohibited products or services, failure to display commercial intent on a post or message. video, or even misleading claims about this or that product.
Even more serious, Fraud Repression has noticed that some people enjoy giving the impression, or saying, that a product or service is legal, when it is not. We all have in mind the example of the famous training courses financed by the CPF, a practice already criticized last year by Bercy for practices dating back to 2021. Let us also cite the promotion of hyaluronic acid injections by a beautician (this must be done by a doctor) or the promotion of products falsely intended to cure diseases such as cancer, not to mention publications that promote a product or service that would make money easy.
So have the sanctions changed anything? To this, the DGCCRF responds that the majority of controlled influencers have complied, but not all. The law of June 9, 2023 gives the authorities the possibility of issuing financial injunctions to those who persist. Finally, Fraud Repression invites consumers, in direct or almost direct contact with content creators, to report any suspicious misleading commercial practices from the Signal Conso platform, headed by the DGCCRF.
Source : DGCCRF
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