League of Lol, Griveaux Affair, attack in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine… What do all these events of the last two years have in common and which have nothing to do with each other?
Each time, several elected officials (sometimes the same) ask to be able to end anonymity on the Internet.
In January 2019, Emmanuel Macron himself spoke in favor of "a gradual lifting of any form of anonymity" online.
Here are the keys to understanding this debate which once again returns to the table after the terrorist act targeting Samuel Paty, and why the questions asked often go well beyond this single subject.
Anonymity, pseudonymity… What are we talking about?
Let's start with a lexical point.
Anonymity consists of the possibility of browsing the Internet, and in particular on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), without being identified.
"There are devices that allow almost absolute anonymity, such as encrypted networks (VPN, TOR) or online anonymization services, but this only concerns a small minority of people," Tristan told us last year. Mendès France, teacher at Celsa and digital specialist.
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Can we really ban anonymity on social networks?
In fact, the police almost always have the means to find a user, for example with the IP address of the device used.
“Anyone who really wants it and has the means and technical knowledge can remain anonymous.
But most of the time, we all leave traces on the Internet: with geolocation, IP addresses, purchase traces, ”explains lawyer Eric Morain.
“It's a legend to be able to be completely anonymous on social networks.
The best way to stay that way is not to be there, ”says LREM MP Eric Bothorel, who closely follows these questions.
This is why we often speak of "pseudonymity".
The user must indicate his name and a valid e-mail address when creating his account, but he then has any possibility of expressing himself with a nickname.
More and more platforms also require a telephone number during certain operations or even upon registration.
What are those who want to end online anonymity asking?
Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region and who does not hide his wish to be a candidate for the 2022 presidential election, wants "that the anonymity for those who advocate terrorism on social networks be lifted much faster ".
“You open an account, you just give your identity to the host.
If there are threats and the apology for terrorism, we are not going to take that long to close the account, to condemn and prosecute.
Social networks are a place of impunity, ”he thundered on RTL on Sunday, two days after the assassination of Samuel Paty.
Her counterpart from Île-de-France, Valérie Pécresse, also wants to "set up a network police".
"It's amazing that on condition of anonymity, we can [there] do anything," she won over Public Senate on Monday.
In 2016, the deputy Eric Ciotti (The Republicans) had presented a bill against terrorism providing in particular for the obligation to present an identity document when registering on a social network.
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VIDEO. Tribute to Samuel Paty: "We are here to show that we are not afraid"
While saying he is opposed to anonymity on social networks ", the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti estimated in Le Parisien on Tuesday that" the crest path to be found with the guarantee of freedom of expression [was] tenuous ”.
"Anonymity is not necessarily indicative of hatred," he added on France Inter.
. @ E_DupondM: "Personally, I am totally against anonymity on social networks. But there is also the protection of a consecrated freedom of expression. Anonymity is not necessarily a sign of hatred" # ConflansSainteHonorine # le79inter pic.twitter.com/ytSHcKiP8h
- France Inter (@franceinter) October 20, 2020
Many experts highlight in particular the possibility for people threatened or who fear persecution because of their gender or their origin to express themselves more freely.
How do social networks defend themselves?
Very protective of the privacy of their users, the platforms ensure that this does not prevent them from cooperating with the authorities… in certain cases.
"Non-public information about Twitter users will not be disclosed to law enforcement in the absence of valid legal proceedings such as a subpoena, court order, or other legal process that complies with the law." , for example writes the blue bird network in its safety rules.
Facebook also ensures "to keep and share [the information of its users] with the regulators, the judicial authorities or others" in several scenarios, in particular "to answer a legal request, if we believe in good faith that the law requires it ”.
But French lawyers are sometimes annoyed to "face a wall".
“The only thing that a French judge can do in certain cases is to issue an international letter rogatory, sent via the liaison magistrate to Twitter, who can refuse to cooperate under the first amendment of the American Constitution which protects the freedom of expression ”, gets carried away the penalist Eric Morain, who defends several victims of cyberstalking.
Because the large American platforms do not always have legal representatives in France.
"We are in a gray area of international law," the Minister for Citizenship Marlène Schiappa carried away this Tuesday on RTL, believing that "social networks have not reached this stage of being taken seriously".
What she had the opportunity to say to their leaders, "summoned" place Beauvau in the morning.
Why is the problem more complex in the case of Conflans?
Social networks could cooperate even more effectively, it would not necessarily have changed much about the assassination of Samuel Paty.
Indeed, the Twitter account used by the terrorist to claim his act had already used to share a photo of beheading last summer.
Reported to the Pharos platform, it had been sent to the Counterterrorism Coordination Unit (Uclat) for analysis.
“The report was taken into account but not considered a serious threat.
There are thousands like this every day and it's hard to sort through.
No one was specifically targeted in the messages, ”a police source told Le Parisien.
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Conflans attack: how the terrorist identified Samuel Paty
“We are on a ridge line and the debate is not limited to the regulation of large platforms.
On the one hand, there is the question of the means granted to the investigation services.
On the other hand, those who want to can always go to much more discreet networks which do not cooperate at all, ”emphasizes Eric Bothorel.
It is also on a neo-Nazi site based abroad that a photo of Samuel Paty's decapitated corpse was published this weekend, leading to the opening of an investigation for "dissemination of images of violence" by the Paris prosecutor's office.