Law regulating commercial influence: Bruno Le Maire promises clarifications

"The objective of the law is not to "annoy" you, but to accompany and protect you," said Thursday the Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, in response to the fears of 130 content creators gathered Thursday at an event organized by Umicc, the professional federation of the world of influence, in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine).

The minister promised to clarify the law regulating commercial influence adopted in June, saying that if it "led to more complexity", it would be "a bad law".

"I propose that we set up a permanent working group" and "that we write together a guide of good practices that gives very concrete and practical advice to influencers," said Bruno Le Maire.

Unanswered questions

A desire for dialogue that reassures the president of the Umicc Carine Fernandez, at the end of two hours of exchanges filled with misunderstandings between influencers and agents of the ministry present in the room.

"We all want here to respect the law, but it appeared" that the services of Bercy "can not bring us for the moment a clear answer on cases that, for us, are everyday cases," she lamented, especially with regard to how to report a commercial collaboration in a publication.

"We have a lot of questions to which we do not necessarily have an answer," insisted Marie Lopez aka EnjoyPhoenix, who has 6.3 million followers on Instagram. The content creator and member of the executive board of Umicc said she is worried about "making an unintentional mistake and being outlawed" if, for example, she promotes her own brand without mentioning commercial collaboration.

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"I feel like they are trying to punish and control us"

For Océane Blanchet, it is also the "vagueness" that reigns. The one who publishes book reviews under the pseudonym Oceadorable on Instagram and TikTok "receives 4 to 10 pounds a day" and still does not know if she should declare gifts she did not ask for.

"Since June, I have the impression that they are trying to punish and control us," she said, while acknowledging that it was "a difficult environment to regulate".

"It is imperative that we correct the situation," replied Bruno Le Maire, promising a new meeting with influencers in six months.