Influencers in France could soon wind up in serious trouble for editing their social media snaps

The French government have proposed new laws that will see influencers forced to disclose if they've edited their images or had cosmetic surgery in their social media snaps.

According to the New York Post, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said the proposed legislation will aim to 'limit the destructive psychological effects' on self esteem.

"All promotion for cosmetic surgery by an influencer as part of a paid partnership will be prohibited,"he added on Twitter.

"I want to say to the influencers who do not respect the law, from now on, we will have a zero-tolerance approach. No sidestepping or breaking the rules."n

Any posts that promote gambling or cryptocurrency would also be banned under the new proposed legislation, the latest measure in a new government push to protect its people from the dangers of social media.

According to the bill, which is now before l'Assemblée Nationale, influencers who photoshop away their blemishes and fail to disclose it to their followers could spend up to two years in prison

Offending social media stars could cop face fines of up to €30,000 (USD$32,700) which makes us wonder if the likes are really worth it for that sort of price tag.

Le Maire told radio station Franceinfo hat while the government isn't trying to target or punish influencers, regulations are needed to ensure social media stars don't take it too far.

"Influencers must be subject to the same rules as those that apply to traditional media," he said.

He also added that social media shouldn't be 'the Wild West'... or basically a Photoshop free-for-all.

This isn't the first new law put before the French government, with lawmakers in Paris recently voting to adopt legislation that will prevent parents from posting photos of their kids on the internet.

MP Bruno Studer, from French President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, put forward the proposed legislation earlier this month at l'Assemblée Nationale.

Studer told Radio France Internationale the law aims to 'empower parents' and to show young people that their 'parents do not have an absolute right over their image'.

Struder said in an interview with Le Monde: "A 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 images of themselves circulating on the internet.

"These are photos that can be misused for child pornography or that can lead to bullying in the school environment."

The law was approved by lawmakers in March.

Topics: World News, Social Media, France, News

Rachel Lang