While scams and deceptions on social networks have multiplied to the point that, according to the findings of the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF), 6 influencers checked out of 10 do not respect the regulations on and consumer rights, the government is taking up the matter. And it is Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, who is stepping up to the plate.
To fuel the reflection on the definition and framework of the profession of influencer, which should make it possible to protect consumers and content creators, the Minister launched a consultation “Influencers / Content Creators”, accessible from 8 January and until Tuesday on the consultation-influenceurs.make.org website.
This consultation should allow all French people who so wish to express themselves on 11 measures established by the regulatory authorities, consumer and professional associations, digital platforms, agencies and influencers, which have already been consulted. The 11 measures cover four areas: the rights and obligations of influencers, intellectual property, consumer protection and governance of the sector by proposing, for example, the creation of a label or a professional federation. In parallel with the consultation, eight working groups from the ministry and players in the sector meet in January and February on the same objectives.
“The 150,000 content creators in France are part of our lives and are a tremendous source of creativity and wealth when the rules are clear and known. This public consultation should allow us to move forward on the question of the definition of the rights and duties of influencers but also of consumer protection, ”assures Bruno Le Maire, who, to explain the approach, posted a video online… which uses the codes of Youtubers. The initiative has also garnered some ridicule, several members of the government having called on prominent influencers for their communication, Marlène Schiappa even inviting influencers in December 2021 Place Beauvau
The code of good conduct called for by Bruno Le Maire is however rather well received by influencers. The “high priestess” of the sector, Magali Berdah, director of the influencer agency Shauna Events, who had been taken to task by the rapper Booba, said she was in favor of it last December.