The Minister of Digital Transition Jean-Noël Barrot will present Wednesday in the Council of Ministers his major law to "secure and regulate the digital space". From cyberbullying to tourist rentals to SMS scams, the bill covers many topics. It will be considered by the Senate by the summer.
Create a "scam filter"
»Who has never received an SMS inviting him to use the funds of his Personal Training Account as soon as possible, or an email about a so-called ticket to be paid or an alleged parcel delivery incident? According to the government, 18 million French people were victims of such scams last year, and half of them lost money. He intends to remedy this through an "anti-scam filter" that should discourage thugs.
Concretely, a warning message will be displayed as soon as a user clicks on a link sent by a scammer. Internet service providers, as well as web browsers, will be responsible for displaying this alert from a shared database of malicious sites (identity theft, fraudulent payments, phishing, etc.) that will be established by the administrative authorities (fraud repression, cyber gendarmerie, national information systems security agency, etc.).
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It is a kind of public service of cybersecurity for all, and which protects in particular the French furthest from digital, "comments the Ministry of Digital.
Suspend convicts of cyberstalking from social media
This is a punch to combat online hate. If the bill is passed, the courts will be able to punish the authors of illegal statements and cyberstalkers with a temporary suspension of their access to the social networks where the crime was committed. The platforms in question will have to suspend the account of the convict, but also his possible other accounts, and prevent him from creating a new profile. This measure can go up to 6 months of banishment, and one year in case of recidivism.
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Like the stadium ban system, this device will prevent recidivism, "says Jean-Noël Barrot. "It will hit pack leaders where it hurts and deprive them of their sounding board by confiscating their notoriety." This will include acts of sexual, moral or educational harassment, racist, religious and sexist calls to hatred, negationism, repression of sexual orientation or gender identity, and advocacy of terrorism.
Strengthen the blocking of pornographic sites for minors
At the end of 2021, Arcom (ex-CSA) had put on notice five pornographic sites that had not set up a robust system for verifying the age of their visitors in France. A violation of a 2020 law to block access to these sites for children and teenagers. A year and a half later, the case is still in the hands of the courts: pornographic sites have multiplied the remedies to escape prosecution.
The Ministry of Digital therefore proposes to simplify the procedure of sanctions against recalcitrant sites. If the law is adopted, Arcom will no longer need a bailiff's report before notifying a pornographic platform out of nails. Nor will he need to go through a judge to get it blocked. The latter can be ordered directly from Internet service providers, who will have 48 hours to comply, and search engines (5 days delay).
Stepping up the fight against child sexual abuse content
Hosts will be liable to a fine of up to 4% of their annual turnover if they do not remove within 24 hours the child pornography content reported to them by the police and gendarmerie. Natural persons risk a year in prison of 250,000 euros in fines. "Last year, 74,000 requests for the removal of child pornography content were sent to hosts," recalls the minister.
Blocking propaganda media on the Internet
The bill gives Arcom the power to request the cessation of the broadcasting on digital platforms of media that have been banned at European level for propaganda or foreign interference. This provision follows the strategy deployed by the Russian media RT and Sputnik to continue to reach a French-speaking audience despite their ban: these channels had turned to the American video platforms Odysee and Rumble.
Strengthening the control of illegal tourist rentals
The bill aims to create a national database of furnished tourist accommodation to help communities better identify owners who exceed the threshold of 120 nights per year. This database will centralize the information held by major platforms in the sector, such as Airbnb, Booking or Abritel.
Fighting Business Abuse in the Cloud Industry
In anticipation of the European Data Act, which will not enter into force before 2026, the France wants to act against anti-competitive practices in the cloud sector. The bill seeks to prohibit the heavy transfer fees that large players in the sector charge when their professional clients wish to switch to competition - and which often discourage them from doing so. The text also wants to regulate the widespread practice of distributing free "cloud credits" to start-ups, limiting it in time. "This measure will make it much easier for French companies to change cloud providers by playing the competition," says Jean-Noël Barrot.
