Paying Social Media Influencers to Promote Cosmetic Surgery May Soon Be a Big No-No

France is proposing a new law to regulate the influencer sector, a world first, to help limit the destructive psychological effects such practices have on social media users.

“Influencers must be subject to the same rules as those that apply to traditional media,” explains French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire who is proposing the new law. The internet “is not the Wild West”.

As a start to this new proposed law, any photo or video retouched or filtered would have to be identified as such. In addition, “all promotion for cosmetic surgery […] as part of the paid partnership will be prohibited,” and this includes gambling or cryptocurrency-paid partnerships. Should the strict regulations be breached, the culprits could face up to 2 years of jail and $32,515 in fines. If found guilty, influencers – from France but also those who live abroad and earn money from sponsoring products sold in France – won’t be allowed to pursue their career on social media. This “zero-tolerance approach” is meant to protect both influencers and consumers. This proposition follows the law adopted in 2017 requiring any commercial photo to be labeled “Photographie retouchée” if it had been retouched.