The French Proposition: the fight against scams and fraudulent influencers on social networks

The French National Assembly and the Senate have approved new regulation to place safeguards on influencer culture and social media use. The new rules, which will come into force once the final text of the bill has been agreed, seek to create a legal system which can both empower and sanction (as appropriate) all influencers, their agencies, advertisers and platforms, in order to strengthen the protection offered to social network users and consumers. The proposals seek to restrict the content which influencers and micro-influencers can post online as well as placing enhanced responsibilities on platforms to report and moderate content. The introduction of this new legislation marks the first time a country has established a legal definition of the term “influencer”.