The French parliament’s lower chamber recently passed a bill that aims to ban influencers from promoting cosmetic s¥rgery on social media while making it mandatory for them to label the images when filters or photoshop has been used.
The National Assembly voted on the cross-party bill that will now move to the Senate where it is expected to be adopted without much opposition. The government is seeking to “limit the destr¥ctive psychological effects” the practices have on social media users.
Breaches of the strict regulation, proposed by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, could result in up to two years of jail and $32,515 (€30,000) in fines. Even worse (for them), offending influencers who are found guilty will not be allowed to use social media or continue their careers on the platforms.
Mr. Le Maire said there would be a “zero-tolerance approach” to anyone who does not respect the rules, which will be debated by France’s National Assembly from Monday. He told FranceInfo that that the regulations were not a “f#ght” against influencers or a way to stigmatize them, but were a system to protect both them and consumers.
France is way ahead of the game in cracking down on widely accepted h@rmful cultural standards. In 2017, the country passed a law that photoshopped bodies would need to be called out. This could be the end of the FaceTune and “BBL Baddie” Era as we know it, at least for France.
