A new law proposed by the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire will soon ban social media influencers from uploading photos without mentioning re-touches or filters they have added to them.
The new law seeks to curtail cosmetic surgery, keeping in mind its ill effect on the mental health of teenagers. The law states that any new picture or video uploaded will also include the filters added to it in the caption or description, while all promotions of cosmetic surgery will be banned.
Penalty for revoking this law could include up to two years in prison and $32,525 in fines, while the influencer responsible for breaking the law would also be banned from using social media or profiting from being an influencer.
Speaking to a French website, Le Maire said that the law was not an attempt to restrict influencers. It was to create a system that protects them as well as consumers.
This is not the first time France has taken strict measures to tackle the rise of inaccessible beauty standards. In 2017, the country passed a law requiring any commercial photo that has been re-touched to change the model’s body to be labeled as ‘photographie retouchée’ (retouched photograph).
