French Senate passes bill expanding police powers over online speech

On 27 October, the French Senate approved, by 229 votes to 105, a bill that allows an administrative authority to order the removal of online content without prior judicial review, with fines of up to 2% of global turnover for platforms that fail to comply within 24 hours. The text, originally intended to make rioters pay for material damage, has ended up as a package of surveillance and control of expression.

Some bills are born with one purpose and die with another. This one began on 16 September with five articles on civil liability for damage caused by car burnings and broken windows. On 27 October, the Senate passed it, with 229 votes in favour and 105 against, transformed into something else: a mechanism to remove content, monitor demonstrations and penalise protest. The "broken windows" label has been stretched to cover news channels, cameras and any criticism the authorities deem inconvenient.

## Removing content within 24 hours without going through a judge

The government's key amendment allows an administrative authority — not a judge — to order platforms and web hosting providers to remove content inciting offences such as attacks on life, theft or destruction, when it is likely to cause a serious disturbance of public order. The official justification: "Social media can contribute decisively to violence and damage, in particular through the dissemination of content inciting the commission of such offences." It was approved by 219 votes to 115.

The deadline for compliance is 24 hours. If the provider does not remove the content, it faces up to six months in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros. For companies, the penalty can reach 2% of their global turnover. The authority can also block the website and remove it from search results. The request is addressed to a designated contact, not a judge, before the content disappears.

The initial text provided for a one-hour emergency procedure for content inciting "an attack, an insurrection or taking up arms against the State." Interior Minister **Laurent Nuñez** withdrew it in plenary session: "I have just corrected my amendment so that we can guarantee the emergency procedure during the exchange, given the risks related to compliance and constitutionality." The provision is expected to be reintroduced later in the legislative process. Nuñez clarified that this is not about shutting down social media, but about using the Pharos mechanism — the unit that receives reports of illegal online content — to remove content inciting insurrection, violence or looting.

## Drones without limits and algorithms over demonstrations

The bill removes the cap on camera drones the police can use simultaneously in each department. It previously stood at between 40 and 100. Now the police can film demonstrations and their surroundings on the written order of a prosecutor. Rapporteur **David Margueritte** summed it up: administrative drones "no longer have a limited number."

The experiment with algorithms that analyse footage from surveillance cameras and drones during demonstrations in real time, and alert "the relevant security services" to "predetermined events," is also extended. The scheme came from the 2023 Olympic Games law and was due to end on 31 March 2025. It was first extended to 31 December 2027 and then to 31 December 2030. Nuñez himself said it "does not seem indispensable to me." The Senate approved it anyway.

## Demonstrations: from covered face to suspended account

Judges could already suspend the social media accounts of people convicted of certain offences for up to six months, or a year in cases of repeat offending. The Senate added three offences to the list: organising an undeclared or banned demonstration, inciting an armed gathering and inciting rebellion. **Fabien Lgtb**, of the Communist Party, warned: "An organiser who announces a demonstration that the prefecture later bans could be sanctioned!"

The ban on covering one's face during or near demonstrations is extended to any protest in a public road, not only where there are riots or they are expected. The penalty: one year in prison and a 15,000 euro fine. Lgtb noted that at peaceful demonstrations people wear masks to protect themselves from tear gas. The entire left of the Senate voted against; the right and supporters of the National Rally in favour.

## What the Constitutional Council has already said

The text arrives at a time when the government and Parliament are accumulating police powers while the courts have been trimming them back. In 2020, the Constitutional Council — France's highest court — struck down a one-hour removal rule provided for in the Avia law, ruling that it infringed freedom of expression "in a manner that is neither appropriate, nor necessary, nor proportionate to the objective pursued." In 2025, the Council of State declared illegal the blocking of TikTok planned for 2024 in New Caledonia.

The government has used the accelerated procedure, so after a first reading in the National Assembly the text can go to a joint committee of both chambers. The Assembly must now examine it. What began as a law to make rioters pay for broken windows has ended as an instrument to decide what can be said on the internet and who can film it. It is worth trinc the process: rules on speech and surveillance affect fundamental rights, and their final scope depends on the next legislative steps and on what the Constitutional Council says.