https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2023/07/05/macron-suggests-blocking-social-media-during-riots_6043565_13.html Thursday, July 06, 2023 1:03 am (Paris) Navigation Go Back to the HomePage Sign in Sign in Subscribe * * Home nav_back_to_home * News In the news + France + Fatal police shooting in Nanterre + Adaptation + War in Ukraine + United States + Environment + Emmanuel Macron + Tour de France + Paris Olympics 2024 All sections + Global issues + Economy + Science + Investigations + Videos + Magazine + Food + Sports + Lifestyle + Culture + Travel + Obituaries + Pixels + Les Decodeurs + Religion + About Us * International + International + United States + United Kingdom + Europe + Africa + Letters from [19ba9e3_1688483140910-22] International Subscribers only Deteriorating health of former Georgian president triggers diplomatic row with Ukraine Hong Kong artist and activist Kacey Wong in Taichung, Taiwan, on June 1, 2023. 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Lire en francais * Share Share + Share on Twitter + Share on Messenger + Share on Facebook + Share by email + Share on Whatsapp + Share on Linkedin + Copy link Emmanuel Macron meets with the mayors of towns affected by the riots in France over the past week Emmanuel Macron meets with the mayors of towns affected by the riots in France over the past week Emmanuel Macron meets with the mayors of towns affected by the riots in France over the past week CYRIL BITTON / DIVERGENCE POUR LE MONDE / CYRIL BITTON Addressing the mayors of 200 communes gathered at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday, July 4, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the idea of measures to block social media platforms in the event of new riots. "We need to have a think about social media, about the bans we need to put in place," he said. "And when things get out of hand, we may need to put ourselves in a position to regulate or cut them off." A few hours later in the Senat, during debates on the bill to "secure the digital environment," Jean-Noel Barrot, minister delegate in charge of the Digital Transition, referred to a "reflection" on the subject that could be completed by the autumn. "The president of the Republic himself said earlier that we must not take measures that are too harsh in the heat of the moment that we may regret later, but we need to start thinking about this. I propose that we engage in this reflection together [as part of the discussions on the digital bill] so that by September we can find the wording that will suit us." Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Death of Nahel M.: Social media plays key role as riots are live-streamed Temporary blockades of social networks, whether partial or complete, are not explicitly provided for under current French law, and the principle itself raises important legal questions. The French Constitution, like European law, guarantees the right to freedom of expression, and the Constitutional Council has ruled on several occasions that measures limiting this in the name of protecting public order must be proportionate and justified. In 2020, the Council notably ruled that the "Avia law" (named for its proponent, MP Laetitia Avia) on online hate, which required social networks to remove "hateful" content within 24 hours, constituted "an infringement on the exercise of freedom of expression and communication that is not necessary, appropriate and proportionate". Easy to implement, and to circumvent Is it technically possible to temporarily block social networks? In theory, yes. In practice, this would probably involve the Domain Name System (DNS), the routing system used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These servers are used to correctly direct data circulating on the internet and are essential to the smooth operation of browsers and applications alike. In some cases, either by court order or at the direct request of the police, French ISPs are already blocking certain sites with illegal content. They modify their DNS - those wishing to access a blocked site are automatically redirected to another address. As Macron suggests, such a block would also extend to the smartphone applications of major social networks, such as Snapchat or Twitter, which would no longer be able to communicate with their servers. Some countries have already blocked social networks on their territory. Turkey, for example, has repeatedly blocked sites including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, notably in 2014 and 2015, with varying degrees of success. While DNS blocks are easy to implement, they're also easily circumvented, including on mobile devices. Some messaging services and social networks, notably Telegram, which was used extensively during the riots, have also set up technical infrastructures to avoid DNS blocking, with some success. In the past, Iran and Russia have tried to block access to the service, without really succeeding. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Riots in France: How a fundraising campaign became a flashpoint in a divided country "The country of human rights and the rights of citizens cannot align itself with the great democracies of China, Russia and Iran," reacted Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, echoed by other left-wing MPs. The president's proposal has been divisive within his own party too. "It would be a mistake," said Renaissance MP Eric Bothorel, a specialist in digital issues. "It would mean abandoning the idea that democracy is stronger than the tools used against it." Ironically, Macron's proposal came two days after the Ministry of the Interior had to deny a rumor circulating on social networks, based on a false press release purporting to be written by the national police and claiming that internet access restrictions would be introduced in certain districts of major cities. Read more Riots in France: Our reporter on the ground answers readers' questions Damien Leloup and Florian Reynaud Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version. Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil. Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil a la fois Continuer a lire ici Ce message s'affichera sur l'autre appareil. Decouvrir les offres multicomptes Pourquoi voyez-vous ce message ? * Parce qu'une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil. 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