France looks to ban influencers from promoting crypto products, projects
The French National Assembly’s economic committee agreed to ban influencers from advertising and promoting unlicensed crypto products and projects on social media.
The ban is part of Bill No. 790, which is the French government’s solution to combat fraud and “profits” carried out via influencers on platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. It was sent to the National Assembly by mayor Arthur Delaporte and Stéphane Vojetta.
House Bill 790 was passed by a majority on March 22 and has passed the first reading stage and will now go to the Assembly and Senate for review and a vote.
De facto ban on all crypto campaigning
As of March 22, not a single cryptocurrency company is licensed by the French financial regulator under the required article.
This essentially means that the bill places a de facto ban on French influencers from talking about any cryptocurrency-related project or company. The move places digital assets under the same regulatory umbrella as gambling, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic surgery.
According to the bill, violations of the new law will result in imprisonment of up to two years and €30,000 in fines. Additionally, influencers found guilty will not be allowed to use social media or continue their careers.
French influencers involved in fraud
Several French social media personalities have recently come under fire for a variety of things from promoting shady crypto projects to allegedly more criminal things like masterminding crypto carpets and profiting from scams.
In January, more than 100 people filed a class-action lawsuit against a French influencer couple living in Dubai for promoting crypto investment and trading platforms that were scams.
The lawsuit further alleges that there are several influencers who were part of the “ring” of fraudsters. The pair operated primarily on Instagram and their accounts have been suspended by Meta since the lawsuit was filed, according to a Euronews report at the time.
Meanwhile, in 2022, blockchain expert ZachXBT revealed on-chain data that linked funds defrauded in a blanket scheme to a well-known French influencer, Laurent Correia.
Disclaimer: Our authors’ opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Do your own due diligence before doing anything related to the content of this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility if you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.
