The Assembly adopted a bill framing videos of children "influencers" on the internet. The main aim is to regulate the hours and income of minors under the age of sixteen.

Scenes from everyday life, product tests or challenges of all kinds: the National Assembly adopted at first reading on Wednesday a LREM bill which intends to give a legal framework to videos featuring children on the Internet. The text, welcomed on all benches, was adopted unanimously by the deputies, making France a pioneer on this subject, according to the deputy LREM Bruno Studer, who carries the text. "To the temptation of virality, it is necessary to privilege the imperative of intimacy", argued the rapporteur of the text in the gallery.

It aims to "prevail the interest of the child" in the face of these videos which stage children "often very young", and can be viewed millions of times. The text is not a crusade against videos, insists the "walker": "There are great content on the Internet. My child is a fan of baking because he sees others baking on YouTube, I have no problem with that. " Culture Minister Franck Riester widely supported the proposal, assuring that "protecting children in the digital space is a government priority."

Manage schedules and revenues

This mainly involves framing the hours and income of minors under the age of sixteen whose image is broadcast on video platforms, which has so far been the subject of a legal vacuum. To do this, it must be determined whether this activity is part of an employment relationship. "I don't want the children behind these videos to be victims of embezzlement or hidden work," said Bruno Studer, who chairs the Assembly's Cultural Affairs Committee.

The extent of the phenomenon is difficult to quantify, but Bruno Studer mentioned "several dozen cases" and income "which allow certain parents" to stop "all activity". In cases where the employment relationship is proven, the text provides for the extension of an already existing system, which supervises the work of children of the show and of child models. And if the administrative authorizations and approvals are not respected, a judge of summary proceedings can be seized. The remuneration received by the children would, as for the children of the show, be placed at the Caisse des Dépôts et consignations, until their majority.