Since the law regulating advertising on social networks, transparency has improved among influencers – Libération

The world of influence is becoming more transparent. Since the implementation in 2023 of a law governing commercial collaborations, influencers are more transparent on social networks, announced the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP) on Tuesday, September 24. According to its responsible influence observatory, “the rate of content fully compliant with transparency rules, all creators combined, increased from 59% in the first half of 2023 (before the law) to 71% in the second half”says the organization, which combed through more than 33,000 pieces of content from more than 7,300 creators on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

This cross-party law was passed in 2023 after several controversies on social networks, including fraudulent product placements. To regulate this jungle of influence, several measures had been taken, such as the appearance of a message “clear, legible and identifiable”, “during the entire promotion”on your screens when the publication is sponsored. But several advertisements had also been banned such as that of cosmetic surgery, “nicotine products”such as puffs or electronic cigarettes, or “miracle products” presented “as comparable, preferable or substitutable for therapeutic acts, protocols or prescriptions”.

The improvement in practices is particularly noticeable among content creators with fewer than 10,000 subscribers, whose compliance rate increased from 40% to 59% between the first and second half of last year. But the very good performers remain star influencers, with more than a million subscribers. Their compliance rate remained at 83%, before or after the law was enacted.

Since 2021, influencers can also obtain a certificate of responsible influence, after training on the ethical and legal rules of commercial influence. A clear success since the threshold of 1,800 certificates has been crossed according to the ARPP.