Influencers in firing line as France tackles scams

France has hit back at a wave of online scams involving influencers, who have persuaded their followers to part with savings for miracle cancer cures or other fake products.

A new law threatens online content creators with steep fines and two-year jail terms for promoting dangerous services or misleading commercial practices.

But it is not just the state that has intervened. Audrey, a mother of two children, was so shocked by the power of influencers, some of whom had made their names on reality TV shows, she set up her own Instagram account to call them out.

“I told myself this is totally wrong. You can’t do that to a community of people who probably worship you and make them take risks by making them buy from unreliable websites.”

She raised the alarm when she saw a former reality TV star promoting dietary supplements that claimed to kill cancer cells.

Her social media page, Your Stars in Reality, aims to expose misleading and illegal practices and provides tools to help prevent people falling for scams.

Some victims of influencers’ scams have been so deeply affected they have attempted to take their own lives, according to an association set up to help the victims of influencers.

“People got divorced, lost their housing, their job, fell into depression,” a spokesperson for the AVI Collective told the BBC.

Many of the scams offer false trading advice that has cost victims more than €50,000 (£43,000), says French MP Arthur Delaporte, who cites AVI figures that suggest people have lost an average of €1,500.

“This bill is dedicated to the victims of scams, to the citizens’ watchdogs who have worked to alert the public authorities,” he told the upper house of France’s parliament as it prepared to ban the practice.

“It’s a public health issue,” Audrey told the BBC.

“When you’re ill, you want to believe that something exists that can save you from heavy treatment – or death. When people stop their cancer treatment thinking that a food supplement can cure them, it could be too late.”

But calling out influencers isn’t easy.

Last year, a YouTuber using the name Crypto Gouv scammed nearly 300 people and embezzled more than €4m, lawmaker Aurélien Taché told the National Assembly when the bill was being examined.

Crypto Gouv gave false instructions on investing in cryptocurrency and asked followers to entrust him with their funds.

Another popular scam targeted the French personal training and education scheme known as CPF – a system that grants funds of up to €500 to people of working age looking to access professional training.

Influencers were paid to advertise fake courses, contributing to some €43m of suspected CPF fraud in 2021, according to the economy ministry.

Products have been sold that never arrived, holidays have never materialised, and shampoos have been advertised containing banned substances that lead to hair loss.

In a study of 60 influencers and influencer agencies from January 2023, the French General Directorate of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) showed that 60% did not respect the regulations on advertising and consumer rights.

“To me, it’s a bit like a mafia,” said Sam Zirah, an online content creator who founded the YouTube and Twitch show AJA, commenting on pop culture, social media and reality TV.

His show has been raising awareness on misleading product advertising for almost two years, often angering influencers, their agents and TV production companies, he told the BBC.

He has interviewed influencers for years and says he was sometimes warned to steer clear of some questions – or risk losing his celebrity access.

“They’ll be determined to put you out of business and save their public image,” he said. “They’ll try to scare and silence you by suing for defamation.”

Influencers are now changing tack across social media, some of them after a push from the government. Six have been ordered to post an official statement from the consumer affairs department announcing they had faced an injunction for deceptive advertising.

Illan Castronovo posted to his 2.2 million Instagram followers that he had promoted gambling and a fake CPF course, and had not been transparent about advertising products.

“I see some influencers laughing. Simon [another sanctioned influencer] and I were punished and asked to post this for 30 days, but that’s the smallest punishment – bigger punishments are coming,” he warned on Instagram.

Maeva Ghennam, a reality-TV star turned influencer with her own makeup brand, told her 3.3 million followers that she “totally agrees” with the new law. She prompted an outcry in 2021 for promoting labiaplasty surgery – illegal because she is not a health professional.

But of course not all influencers act irresponsibly.

Louise Aubéry, whose Instagram account helps promote her own brand of eco-responsible and inclusive lingerie, says it is a shame that for many people the word influencer has become almost synonymous with thief.

“I don’t think people realise the positive impact that influencers can have on people’s lives. I get a lot of messages thanking me.”

The change in the law may not bring an end to the era of influvoleurs, or influ-scammers, as French rapper Booba once called them.

The question is how France’s influencers adjust to the new reality.