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Hidden partnerships, gambling... the ARPP and Instagram campaign against the excesses of influencers

2023-01-11T14:44:04.436Z


After an initial information campaign and a year of controversy, the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP) wants to s


Hidden partnerships, counterfeits and scams... To fight against the excesses of influencers which are regularly controversial, the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP) launched, in mid-December, an information campaign with Instagram to promote responsible practices online.

The objective: to publicize its certificate aimed at training content creators in responsible influence, launched in 2021. While the Ministry of the Economy launched a public consultation on the subject on Monday, the deputy director of the ARPP calls for more means to better sanction them - and recalls the already existing legal framework on these practices.

In December, you launched a campaign to raise awareness of good influencer practices with Instagram.

What does it consist of?

MOHAMED MANSOURI.

It aims to make the legal and ethical framework of influence known to as many people as possible, whether agents, brands or consumers, to help them identify good practices, such as transparency.

In this case, if a partnership is not clear, one incurs a penalty of up to two years in prison and 300,000 euros in fines.

We also want to recall the rules for the protection of minors.

We associated this campaign with our certificate of responsible influence, and since then, we have seen a real acceleration in registrations: we had 150 certified creators in mid-September, we now have 350. The ARPP will also make education around strictly regulated sectors: a "gambling option" certificate created with the National Gaming Authority was launched at the end of September, so that content creators are aware of the rules for the protection of minors, tell them to not to use videos with attractive characters, not to question social values ​​about work, or to mislead about the possibilities of earnings.

A “financial product option” certificate, studied with the Autorité des marchés financiers, will be released next March.

How do you monitor the practices of influencers and what sanctions can you inflict on them?

The ARPP has the Responsible Influence Observatory, launched in 2019 and which, since 2021, has been backed by advanced technologies.

The algorithms of our tech suppliers, Reech and Tracker, automatically bring up content where there is a good chance that there is a commercial collaboration.

They brought up 30,000 pieces of content that were then checked by our lawyers.

With this data, the Observatory, steered by an interprofessional monitoring committee which notably includes Meta, then adopts an action plan.

The response is graduated.

It can start with a direct message on Instagram, and go as far as the suspension, the withdrawal of the certificate.

The advertising ethics jury, an independent body chaired by two magistrates and nine members from civil society, can be seized and launch a sanction: "name and shame", reputational damage.

He will publish a decision pointing out the breach, which can have economic impacts.

In the most serious cases, the jury can forward files to the police departments for cases of fraud.

Awareness, “name and shame”… Is this enough to counter mass abuse on social networks?

I would not speak of mass drifts.

We have 150,000 content creators, and the vast majority of them work responsibly.

If they do not indicate commercial collaboration, it is often by forgetting or ignorance.

The scams we talked about widely in the media last year, whether they are related to cosmetic surgery, the sale of counterfeit products… Unfortunately, we will always have them.

There will always be scammers.

There, we are talking about ethics, pedagogy.

And talking to crooks about ethics isn't much use.

The Ministry of the Economy has just launched a public consultation on the subject…

This is an opportunity for the ARPP and the profession to recommit to responsible communication.

The exchanges in which we have participated since the first round table, around the rights and obligations of influencers, transparency and consumer protection, and governance and intellectual property, are going well.

We are in the context of an inventory: very often, the existing legal framework makes it possible to apprehend all the excesses, whether they are unfair commercial practices or those related to health.

The challenge is simply to make this framework known, and also to grant heavier sanctions and resources for the DGCCRF.

Our ancestor, the Ads Control Board established in 1935, was created to combat misleading advertisements in the press, such as miracle products that regrow hair, as they brought discredit to the industry and, obviously, undermined consumer protection.

The profession has been able to put an end to this by adopting common best practices.

We can clearly see that history is an eternal beginning.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2023-01-11

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