French government will take a “zero-tolerance approach” to influencers who don’t label retouched images

France’s Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, announced on Friday that the country may be taking steps to ensure that it is mandatory for influencers to signpost filtered or doctored images on social media. As reported by WWD, Le Maire stated that influencers posting these photos and videos should be regulated to “limit the destructive psychological effects of these practices on the Internuats’ esteem.”

He added that there were over 150k influencers in France, across platforms like TikTok and Instagram, which is an occupation the government supports but not when it begins to affect consumers. 

The French government is planning to introduce a comprehensive framework and an oversight team at the Directorate General for Consumer Affairs, Competition, and Fraud Prevention to control the images of influencers. It will be highlighted as part of a bill next week. 

“All promotion for cosmetic surgery by an influencer as part of a paid partnership will be prohibited,” explained Le Maire. “I want to say to the influencers who do not respect the law, from now on, we will have a zero-tolerance approach. No sidestepping or breaking the rules.”

The French government has, for a number of years, taken a rigid approach to controlling the output of doctored images. Only in 2017, a law was passed stating that photoshopped bodies would need to be accompanied by a label that reads ‘photographie retouchée’ (‘retouched photograph’). All imagery in advertising, both in print and online, falls under this law, as retouching becomes the next step in France’s approach to social media transparency.