Influencers have an increasingly strong impact on the lives of Internet users, particularly on their purchasing decisions. Faced with numerous abuses and scams, the Government has decided to establish new rules in order to regulate the practices of these new gurus.
With the development of social networks, some people manage to make themselves known, to be appreciated by Internet users and to create a real community around them. These are the famous “influencers” or, as they often prefer to call themselves, “content creators”, who are rampant on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat and other YouTube.
Appearing a few years ago, the term even entered dictionaries, at the same time as it spread in society, and especially among young people: for Le Robert, it designates a “pperson who influences opinion, consumption by his audience on social networks” and, for the Larousse, a “person who, because of his popularity and his expertise in a given field (fashion, for example), is able to influence the consumption practices of Internet users through the ideas he disseminates on a blog or any other interactive medium (forum, social network, etc.).” As you will have understood, influencers have a real impact on the purchasing decisions of those who follow them as well as a responsibility, if only ethical and moral, in what they promote or do. apology.
Influencers are paid through partnerships, i.e. brands pay them to promote a product or service – usually with an affiliate link and/or promo codes – or simply to wear one of their clothes or use one of their products in one of their videos. But who says money, necessarily says abuse, and many scandals and controversies regularly break out on the Web – this is particularly the case in France since this summer. Because if some influencers are people who share their passion and their knowledge and get paid by forming partnerships with products or services that they have really tested and liked, and of which they are convinced that they can be useful to their community, others – often stars from reality TV – have made these famous partnerships the heart of their business, to the point of abusing them and selling anything and everything… including fraudulent or dangerous products! This is why the Government, under the leadership of Bruno Le Maire, has decided to legislate on the issue.
One of the biggest sources of influencer compensation is through partnerships, which benefit both the brand and the content creator. Indeed, the company benefits from its visibility, while the other receives free products and is paid to advertise. In short, it’s a win-win! In general, the promotion is rather effective since the influencer creates a kind of trust and closeness between Internet users and him. If a subscriber agrees with his point of view, if he recognizes himself in him, feels close to him and discovers many points in common with him, then he will trust him. As a result, the influencer becomes much more persuasive than a company when he tells him that such a product is absolutely brilliant and that he must get it urgently. The company specializing in influence marketing Reech unveiled this January 12 a study on the subject and reports that a third of French people say they “follow” content creators online, a figure that rises to 63% in the 18-25 age group, which is much more exposed to social networks. 31% follow people from reality TV, 61% content creators “whose job it is”46% of public figures (politicians, journalists, artists, athletes, etc.) and 44% of individuals who share their passion.
Inevitably, as soon as it comes to money, everyone sees and defends their interests, and this, sometimes in defiance of all moral sense. This is how you end up with many cases of dropshipping, shoddy products, selling counterfeit and disguised subscriptions, and fraudulent trading and cryptocurrency advice. There is no shortage of examples – the account @YourStarsInReality has also made it its mission to denounce and decipher the various cases. Influencer Nabilla Benattia-Vergara, for example, was fined 20,000 euros for promoting stock services on Snapchat in 2018 without mentioning that she was paid for it – which is prohibited by law. Many influencers have also praised the Nicky Cosmetics brand, whose products have caused hair loss to users who have tried them. We also no longer count the apologies for slimming diets that are nevertheless dangerous for health…
Lately, the world of influencers has been shaken by numerous controversies, including obviously the violent media war which pitted rapper Booba against influential agent Magali Berdah and her influencers, the artist accusing several of these network stars of fraud. social groups, whom he describes as “influencers”. The show “Additional Investigation: Scams, money and politics: the real business of influencers”, broadcast in early September on France 2, also caused a stir. This month, the AVI Collective (Collectif d’Aide aux Victimes d’Influenceurs) decided to take legal action by mandating the firm Ziegler & Associés to file a complaint for organized fraud in the near future. It mainly targets Marc Blata, a former reality TV candidate who participated in La Belle and her almost charming princes and to Angels 5and his wife Nadé Blata, who have millions of subscribers and reside in Dubai. “By launching these appeals, the AVI Collective wishes to warn the public (young and old) about the dangers of promoting certain unscrupulous “stars”, pointing out the passivity of platforms, underlining the impotence of institutions and encouraging other identical procedures”, he explained in a press release. Suffice to say that it was time for the Government to react!
Influencers: a public consultation to regulate abuse
Several regulatory bodies are currently responsible for monitoring the influencer sector – estimated at 150,000 in France – under their general jurisdiction, including the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP), the Financial Markets Authority , the National Gaming Authority and the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), but that is obviously not enough. Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of Economy and Financehas decided to look into the problem and explains that it wants to establish new rules to regulate the activities of influencers and “punish with a lot of firmness” any discrepancy or deception. This is why it is organizing a public consultation, which was approved on December 9 – a decision following a round table organized in December with representatives of this sector – and which it presents in more detail in a YouTube video. The objective is threefold: to protect consumers from scams, to establish a code of good conduct and to punish influencers who break the rules.
This is why everyone is invited, until next January 31, to join the site. consultation-influenceurs.make.org in order to give its opinion on eleven measures, divided into four themes (consumer protection, intellectual property, rights and duties of influencers, governance of the activity). For each of them, Internet users can indicate whether or not they consider the measure a priority, whether they agree with the proposal and whether its benefits are sufficient. They can also leave their opinion or an idea via a comment.
Law for influencers: frame, protect, empower and punish
The Government proposes in particular to clearly define the influencer as “any natural or legal person whose activity consists, for consideration (in kind or in financial form), in creating and producing content aimed at promoting goods or services of which he is not necessarily the producer or the service provider, disseminated by means of digital communication, on the occasion of the expression of his personality”. The purpose of this definition is to exclude other activities of the influencer, such as purely editorial activities, or the activities of performer or model already governed by the Labor Code. Future measures also aim to empower and protect young influencers who, through ignorance and lack of experience, may find themselves in unbalanced relationships with brands and are not always aware of the legal implications of their activities.
They also aim to involve the platforms more in the fight against abuse, and to regulate the promotion of certain products in the same way as advertising. “The law already regulates advertising for certain products or services for various reasons of general interest, which may be the protection of public health, ethical considerations, or even environmental objectives (alcoholic beverages, tobacco, medical services, financial products risky, more recently fossil fuels).” But because of the youth of the public, the Government is asking itself the question of imposing stricter rules on influencers, especially if their activity carries particular risks towards certain vulnerable audiences. While waiting for the measures to be decided, do not hesitate to report misleading behavior and disguised advertisements on the site. Signal consumption.