The French government will present a plan aimed at better regulating the commercial activities carried out by “influencers” in social networks, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Monday, as quoted by Euractiv.

The market for promoting products on social networks was estimated at 15.3 billion euros last year. In France, influencer promotion is considered one of the most effective forms of advertising: 68% of French brands use this type of advertising, especially on Instagram.

The high value-added market and unprecedented power of social media platforms have attracted the attention of lawmakers in several countries, not just France.

“Influencers should be subject to the same rules as traditional media,” said Bruno Le Maire, adding that the Internet is not the “Wild West.” He said he wanted influential people to be given their own status in France’s regulatory system to “strengthen” control over them.

However, the French minister emphasized that the plan to be presented by the government is not a fight against influential persons, but a system “to protect them, not to stigmatize them.”

Another goal, stated by Le Maire, is to protect French consumers from “unacceptable lapses” in the promotion of certain products online.

Public debate in France related to the regulation of influencers

Earlier this year, a public consultation was launched in France with the relevant actors in the field, which led to several recommendations that could be incorporated into the plan now announced by Bruno Le Maire.

Among them are the legal definition of influencers and their agents, the prohibition of the promotion of certain products, as well as the creation of a brand that certifies the responsibility of the content creator.

In January, the French consumer watchdog announced that it had found “anomalies” related to “adherence to rules related to advertising and consumer rights” in 60% of the influencers it checked.

The agency also noted that “all verified influencers did not comply with the rules regarding the transparency of the commercial nature of the published content,” and some of them “misled consumers about the properties of the products sold (…) or advertised.” products or risky services”.