2023 年 1 月 31 日，某些法國國民議會議員提出了一項法案草案，旨在更好地規範影響者的活動，以史無前例的努力消除在社交媒體上激增的欺騙性和欺詐性商業行為。該法案包含五項條款，本週將由國民議會審議，並可能為歐洲類似的立法舉措開闢道路。

該法案的第一條提議在法國消費者法典中創建一個將適用於影響者的產品、行為或服務的推廣的新的節，這些影響者被定義為「任何自然人或法人，預期將收到金錢補償或實物利益的回報，通過任何電子通信方式創建和分發內容，以推廣商品、服務或任何特定主題，同時展現他們的人格特質」。

上述定義所涵蓋的任何人都將被禁止在社交媒體上推廣藥品、醫療器械和外科手術，但作為政府公共衛生活動的中繼者除外。此外，推廣可能會給消費者帶來損失的金融投資和數字資產也是如此。

此外，將禁止影響者對賽事预测表訂閲、職業培訓註冊及賭博和機會遊戲進行推廣，除非在整個推廣過程中通過圖像或影片上可見的橫幅明確告知公眾此類產品或服務是僅適用於 18 歲以上的人。

任何違反上述限制的行為將被處以五年監禁和 375,000 歐元的罰款。鑑於過去幾個月震撼法國社交媒體的多起醜聞，法案起草者認為該懲罰是適當的：畢竟，某些影響者因推廣女陰整型手術、透明質酸注射和投資詐騙而受到抨擊。

儘管幾乎一致承認影響者行業需要更多監管，但是應該如何監管以及監管到何種程度是有很多爭論的主題。在此背景下，法案文本可能會在國會審議期間進行修改。

參考資料：Lutte contre les arnaques et les dérives des influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux (Dossier législatif en version repliée) - Assemblée nationale (assemblee-nationale.fr) | Proposition de loi n°790 visant à lutter contre les arnaques et les dérives des influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux (assemblee-nationale.fr)

A draft bill targeting scams and abuses by social media influencers soon to be examined in France

On January 31, 2023, certain members of the French National Assembly introduced a bill to better regulate the activities of influencers, in an unprecedented effort to stamp out deceptive and fraudulent commercial practices proliferating on social media. The bill, which contains five articles, will be examined this week by the National Assembly, and could pave the way for similar legislative initiatives in Europe.

The first article of the bill proposes to create a new section in the French Consumer Code targeting the promotion of products, acts or services by influencers, defined as “any natural or legal person who, in return for monetary compensation or a benefit in kind, creates and distributes by any electronic mean of communication content to promote goods, services, or any particular issue, while expressing their personality.”

Any person covered by the above definition would be prohibited from promoting pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and surgical procedures on social media, except when acting as a relay for public health campaigns from the government. The same would go for the promotion of financial investments and digital assets which could result in losses for the consumers.

Additionally, influencers would be prohibited from promoting subscriptions to sports forecasts, vocational training programs, gambling, and games of chance, unless the public is explicitly informed, by a banner visible on the image or the video during the entire promotion, that such products or services are reserved for to people over the age of 18.

Any violation of the above restrictions would be punishable by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 375,000 euros. A punishment that the bill drafters have deemed proportionate in the light of the multiple scandals that have rocked French social media over the last few months, with certain influencers under fire for promoting female genital plastic surgery, hyaluronic acid injections, and stock trading scams.

Although the need for more regulation in the influencer industry is almost unanimously acknowledged, how and to which extent it should be regulated, however, is the subject of much debate. In this context, it is likely that the text of the bill will be amended while being examined by the National Assembly.

Reference materials: Lutte contre les arnaques et les dérives des influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux (Dossier législatif en version repliée) - Assemblée nationale (assemblee-nationale.fr) | Proposition de loi n°790 visant à lutter contre les arnaques et les dérives des influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux (assemblee-nationale.fr)

by 黃愷蜜 顧問