“Do not break our model” because of the “drifts of a minority”, 150 influencers, including stars like Squeezie, Cyprien or Seb la Frite, launched Sunday to the deputies, before the examination next week of a proposal for law to regulate their activity.
“We hear about influencers, about the fight to be waged against us. We think it’s a mistake. That a minority has become a generality”, plead the influencers in a column published in the Journal du Dimanche.
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, presented on Friday a battery of measures to regulate a sector so far largely without constraints. In particular, he wants to subject the 150,000 French influencers, who often live from the promotion of products, to the “same rules” of advertising as the traditional media.
The small world of Instagram, YouTube and TikTok stars is worried about being equated with those who are accused of misleading consumers.
“Your only compass must be the protection of consumers from the abuses of a minority who thinks everything is allowed and the preservation of our activities and the jobs that we create. Do not break the virtuous model that we are building in the four corners of France with and for the French. Understand it, protect it, make it grow”, ask the influencers.
“Scams, counterfeits, dubious commercial practices, some have made believe in recent months that they were representative of our sector when they only represent a minority. It is their abuses that we first want to denounce”, insist- they.
“We are certainly not perfect. We have made mistakes. But our priority is and always will be the protection of consumers, of our communities. We are not walking billboards.”
They ask MPs not to ‘view them as a threat’ or ‘undermine a thriving economy’ which represents ‘thousands of jobs’ by helping to promote businesses. “The debate is not about being for or against influence,” they conclude.
In January, the repression of fraud (DGCCRF) published a damning investigation into the practices of the sector, with deception on the products sold, promotion of risky sports betting, even injections “by beauticians and non-health professionals”. The cross-partisan bill to be considered this week also plans to ban the promotion of cosmetic surgery.
03/26/2023 12:23:25 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
