I was heartened to read this news from France in 2017.
Norway followed suit in 2021 and the UK is on the way.
But now, French politicians have been found to have retouched their campaign photographs
Juliette de Causans, a senatorial candidate running for Europe Écologie Égalité, admitted to retouching her photos, but said it would boost her chances of winning.
For me, this is disgraceful. Firstly it increases the problem of unrealistic expectations being placed on social media users, particularly the young. Secondly, it reduces trust in politicians. If they would lie about this, what else would they lie about? Thirdly, did they not think about people seeing what they actually look like when they meet them in real life? Lastly, did they not think of the actual law when retouching their photos without adding a disclaimer.
I saw a report, though I could not verify it, that Ms de Causans, said it was within her rights to look pretty. I hope that was fanciful reporting rather than something she actually said.
I saw that statement too on Twitter (X)! I was so shocked! I think this law is perfect. I’ve never had too many problems with my body image (my philosophy being “it is what it is”!), but I can completely see how so many people can get heavily influenced by this. The law is really perfect and should apply to absolutely everyone, in particular politicians. I guess this is not going to help their cause at all after lying like this!…