In France, a bill has been proposed that would make it mandatory for influencers to tell followers if they have used a filter on their IG photos

In France, a bill has been proposed that would make it mandatory for influencers to tell followers if they have used a filter on their IG photos. 

Punishment could result in up to two years of jail and $32,515 (€30,000) in fines.

The lower chamber of the French parliament, the National Assembly, passed a cross-party bill that aims to introduce some new requirements for social media influencers. This is a preliminary vote as the bill will move to the Senate, but there’s a high probably that it will be adopted in a few weeks as all the 49 deputies who were present at the National Assembly voted in favor of the bill.

This bill has been in negotiations for a while as Aurélien Taché, a deputy from the French green party, submitted a draft law back in November 2022. According to him, many influencers promote scams because there aren’t any negative consequence. Around the same time, French rapper Booba also started calling out scammers/influencers on social networks, which led to some widespread media coverage.

Le Maire told radio station Franceinfo hat while the government isn't trying to target or punish influencers, regulations are needed to ensure social media stars don't take it too far.

"Influencers must be subject to the same rules as those that apply to traditional media," he said. This isn't the first new law put before the French government, with lawmakers in Paris recently voting to adopt legislation that will prevent parents from posting photos of their kids on the internet.

MP Bruno Studer, from French President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, put forward the proposed legislation earlier this month at l'Assemblée Nationale.

Studer told Radio France Internationale the law aims to 'empower parents' and to show young people that their 'parents do not have an absolute right over their image'.

The French government itself then started looking at this topic with the Ministry of the Economy conducting a public consultation to better understand the stakes. More recently, Arthur Delaporte and Stéphane Vojetta — a socialist deputy and a deputy from Emmanuel Macron’s party respectively — then submitted another draft bill that would turn all this back and forth into an actual piece of legislation (with the government’s support).

The result is today’s bill, which first defines what a paid influencer is. It’s someone who leverages their reputation to share content that promotes a product or a service in exchange for money or a benefit-in-kind. Influencers who meet these criteria will have to comply with new rules.

Any posts that promote gambling or cryptocurrency would also be banned under the new proposed legislation, the latest measure in a new government push to protect its people from the dangers of social media.

According to the bill, which is now before l'Assemblée Nationale, influencers who photoshop away their blemishes and fail to disclose it to their followers could spend up to two years in prison

Offending social media stars could cop face fines of up to €30,000 (USD$32,700) which makes us wonder if the likes are really worth it for that sort of price tag.