Misleading commercial practices: Illan Castronovo and Simon Castaldi pinned down by the DGCCRF
The government is toughening up. In the midst of an offensive against deceptive commercial practices on social networks, the executive forced influencers Illan Castronovo and Simon Castaldi to post a message on social networks written by the repression of fraud (DGCCRF), noted this Thursday the AFP.
“DGCCRF agents have initiated an administrative injunction against Illan Castronovo “, it has been indicated since Wednesday evening on the influencer’s Instagram account, followed by 2.2 million subscribers. “On his Instagram account and on his Telegram channels, he claims from a sports betting advice service that he increases the chances of winning at gambling,” continues the message from the DGCCRF.
Illan Castronovo is also accused of giving “the impression that a cash transfer service of part of the balance of the personal training account [CPF] in return for a simple registration for training is lawful, whereas it is not. Finally, the influencer “does not indicate the commercial intent of its publications for advertising purposes”. “These are misleading commercial practices within the meaning of the consumer code”, insists the message from the DGCCRF.
“I’m not one of the ‘influencers'”
“I recognize and I assume my mistakes”, reacted Illan Castronovo in a story published on Instagram. But “I’m not one of the ‘ influencers ‘, I haven’t been fined and […] it’s been a little over two years since I’ve hardly made any product placements,” he continues. . Simon Castaldi, who has 342,000 subscribers, is for his part accused of not indicating on Instagram “neither the commercial intention of his publications, yet directly related to the promotion of goods or services, nor the brands for which he carries out these communications “.
Contacted by AFP to find out if other influencers were possibly affected by these administrative injunctions, the DGCCRF did not respond Thursday afternoon. The messages written by the DGCCRF are published while the Parliament definitively adopted Thursday a bill intended to better regulate the sector of influencers , whose number is estimated at 150,000 in France. The text notably prohibits the promotion of certain practices such as cosmetic surgery and restricts the promotion of gambling and games of chance.