The deputies, visibly few in number to be concerned by the question, adopted Thursday the bill aimed at combating the scams and excesses of influencers.
In the wake of the measures announced by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire a few days ago, the deputies adopted, Thursday, March 30 and unanimously (even if they were only 49 voters), the proposal of law carried by elected Renaissance and NUPES of the National Assembly, whose objective is to regulate the controversial commercial practices of influencers on social networks. The text, which includes a handful of articles, wants to put an end to scams and excesses.
Promotional excesses will (almost) no longer be allowed
Finally, article 1 provides a clear definition of the commercial influencer. The latter is thus defined as a person (natural or legal) “ which mobilizes its notoriety to communicate to the public by electronic means content aimed at directly or indirectly promoting goods, services or any cause whatsoever, in return for an economic benefit or a benefit in kind whose value is above the thresholds set by decree, exercises the commercial influence activity by electronic means “.
Promotion for surgical operations (including aesthetic) will be, once the legislative process has come to an end, prohibited, as will advertisements highlighting financial products or services, but also counterfeit products.
Gambling advertisements will not be prohibited. But influencers will, on the other hand, have to display an informative banner on these promotions. The same goes for video games, which could include a functionality similar to these gambling games.
The law imposes a fine of 30,000 euros, up to two years’ imprisonment and a ban on the exercise of commercial influence in the event of breach of these few rules.
Transparency obligations intended to prevent scams
The obligations newly imposed in the legislative framework on influencers do not stop there! The promotional operations they carry out, regardless of the platform, must be shown as such. In other words, creators will have to display these ads, “ in a clear, legible and identifiable manner “.
And if an advertisement is attached to a promotional training (the famous CPF), the influencer will have the obligation to include, on this one, the name of the organization at the origin of the advertisement. Regarding promotions of drinks with added sugar and manufactured food products, the creator must display the health information usually used in advertisements.
Dropshipping and the agent of influencers more seriously framed as well, even outside the European Union
With regard to dropshipping operations (this practice, highly contested, which consists of creating an e-commerce site and selling products that are not even in stock), the law mentions the obligation, for commercial influencers and their agents, to verify the actual availability of the product sold, and to ensure its compliance with European standards.
We were talking about influencer agents, those people who connect influencers with brands. From now on, they will have the obligation to take all measures to guarantee the interests of their clients. A small subtle addition, but considered essential by parliamentarians: this measure will even affect influencers who carry out their activity outside the borders of the European Union (Dubai, for example), who will have to appoint a legal representative established within of the EU. This representative will be required to take out insurance covering his activities, in order to compensate potential victims.
Source : National Assembly
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