The government’s text aims in particular to transpose the latest European regulations into French law and proposes new provisions regarding internet security. However, some remain to be refined, as the examination in the Assembly begins on Thursday.
THE “major social media platforms” must, for the first time in France, “care about the consequences they have on the world”. Here is the summary from Jean-Noël Barrot, the Minister for Digital Transition, as he discusses his bill on September 19 on France Inter. Nearly two weeks later, the text aimed at “secure and regulate the digital space” arrives at the National Assembly, Thursday October 5.
The government wants to move quickly on this text, which has passed through the accelerated procedure. During the debates aroused during its examination by the special commission, members of the majority nevertheless reported disagreements and several measures still require technical clarification for their implementation. Here is what you need to know about the content of this bill before its examination in the Palais-Bourbon hemicycle.
The main social networks ordered to be more transparent about their operation
The goal is to “to concretize in our French law, a regulation that France introduced last year and [qui] was adopted by the entire EU”, explains Jean-Noël Barrot. The French government had to transpose measures included in the Digital Services Act and the Digital Market Act, two texts which summarize the new rules of the game of the European Commission vis-à-vis the web giants.
Seventeen platforms (including Google, Amazon and Apple) will now have to submit their algorithms to an independent audit in order to verify that their operation complies with European rules. These companies will also need to share the data they collect with researchers and make the processes for reporting problematic content more accessible. Users of these platforms must be more precisely informed about the workings of the algorithms and the collection of their personal data, particularly for advertising purposes.
The social networks concerned (including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat), which bring together more than 10% of the European population, will also have to be more proactive in the face of the risks run by their users, otherwise they will be exposed to heavy fines. The minister gave the example of an application “as TikTok” which could be sanctioned up to “600 million euros” by the European Commission, or “6% of its global turnover”.
Tougher penalties for cyberstalkers
Asked about the suicide of Marie, a victim of harassment at the age of 15, Jean-Noël Barrot said he was convinced that such tragedies will be avoided if this bill is adopted. Several gradual measures are mentioned in this text in order to fight against this scourge. The majority is counting on tougher legal sanctions to deter perpetrators, in particular a fixed fine of a minimum amount of 250 euros and which could go up to 600 euros. During the presentation of the interministerial plan to combat harassment at the end of September, Jean-Noël Barrot also announced a “suspension of six months to one year from social networks for [élèves] cyberstalkers”.
Judges will also be able to impose sentences of “ban from social networks” or impose an awareness training course on harassers “respect for people in the digital space”, further specifies the bill. The Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, also mentioned a sentence imposing a digital curfew on a minor convicted of cyberharassment. The measure is not present in the initial text, but can be subject to amendment.
The government is also tackling the distribution of “deepfakes”, these images and videos featuring people without their consent. “These penalties are increased to two years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros,” suggests the text. Article 5 provides for further increasing this penalty in the event of “sexual montage”.
Age control for accessing pornographic sites which remains to be specified
The first article of the bill tasks the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) with ensuring “only pornographic content” public “cannot be accessible to minors”. According to the text, a black screen must be displayed on these sites, until the Internet user wishing to consult them is able to prove their majority to access the platform. But the bill does not specify how these sites will have to proceed to verify the identity of their users, who are now anonymous online. Within six months after the promulgation of the text, Arcom will be responsible for clarifying, to pornographic sites, the way in which they will verify the age of Internet users, without encroaching on their individual freedoms.
The lifting of online anonymity greatly agitated the debates in the special committee, particularly on the subject of harassment on social networks. The general rapporteur of the bill, the deputy Paul Midy (Renaissance), tabled amendments – before withdrawing them – to put an end to anonymity on social networks, which according to him generates “a feeling of immunity”. Paul Midy prefers “pseudonymity”, which consists of making the creation of an account, for example on Facebook, conditional on the certification of the identity of its user, as he explains on franceinfo. This so that “the authorities can find out who the natural person behind the account is” if he commits illegal acts online, he specifies.
Members of the commission, including within the majority, opposed this proposal, considered difficult to impose on platforms and potentially liberticidal. “Of course [l’anonymat] and encryption are difficult for law enforcement to overcome, but the solution cannot be to make everything transparent,” nuance Eric Bothorel, Renaissance deputy for Côtes-d’Armor. La Quadrature du Net, an association for the defense of freedoms on the internet, ensures that European law includes “a legal principle of online anonymity”. The subject is therefore likely to be debated again in the Assembly.
A mention of “illegal nature” on certain pornographic videos
If MEPs adopt this text as is, pornographic sites will also have to warn their users when they are about to watch videos simulating “the commission of a crime or misdemeanor” by “a message” announcing the “illegal nature of the behavior” seen on screen.
According to a report on “pornocriminality” published at the end of September by the High Council for Equality between Women and Men, “90% of pornographic content” are characterized by the presence of “physical or verbal violence”, what makes them “criminally reprehensible”.
Depublication “within 24 hours” of child pornography content
Platforms will also have to be more responsive regarding child pornography. The bill requires them to unpublish, “within twenty-four hours”images and videos of a child pornography nature which will be reported to them by the authorities.
If this deadline is exceeded, those responsible for the sites concerned risk a sentence of one year. prison and a fine of 250,000 euros. If the offense is repeated, the text provides for a sanction of up to 4% of the annual turnover of the targeted group.
A “digital identity” for all French people by 2030
This is a necessity to encourage the dematerialization of administrative procedures. “The State sets itself the objective that 80% of French people have a digital identity by the 1st January 2027″stipulates in particular article 4. This ambition must be brought to “nearly 100%” by January 1, 2030.
Despite its mention in the government text, the technical system which will carry out this project is not specified. The government instructs Parliament to evaluate the generalization of this system “within six months”. Several options are still on the table, notably France Identity or the Digital Identity proposed by La Poste.
An anti-scam filter to denounce malicious sites and warn Internet users
The measure appeared in the program for Emmanuel Macron’s second term. To try to protect the French from multiple scam attempts by email or SMS, the government first considered administratively blocking sites identified as malicious. This option having been deemed too restrictive by the CNIL, it is ultimately a “filtered” which was retained.
When an Internet user clicks on a link directing to a site known for its dubious practices, in particular for “phishing”, a message “clear, readable, unique and understandable” must be displayed by internet service providers (ISPs) and browsers under penalty of sanctions. This text will warn Internet users wishing to access the site in question “of the risk of harm incurred” in order to prevent them from becoming the next victims of these online frauds.
ISPs and browsers show up open to its implementation place, according to MP Eric Bothorel: “They have no interest in users feeling dangerous when going on the internet. They aspire, like us, for us to navigate in a space of trust”. It remains to be seen whether the filtering of a site will be conditional on the filing of a first complaint, accusing this site of a scam. The date of deployment of the system is not mentioned in the text, which does not impose a technical solution either.