“We need to have a reflection on social networks, on the prohibitions that we must put. And when things get out of hand, you may have to put yourself in a position to regulate them or cut them. Before the mayors of 200 municipalities, gathered at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday July 4, Emmanuel Macron raised the idea that it was necessary to be able to put in place measures to block social networks in the event of new riots.
A few hours later, in the Senate, during the debates around the bill aimed at “securing the digital space”, the Minister Delegate in charge of the digital transition, Jean-Noël Barrot, evoked a “reflection” on the subject which could achieve this by the start of the school year: “The President of the Republic himself said earlier that it was above all not necessary, in [hot weather], to take too harsh measures that we may regret later , but we need to engage in this reflection, said Mr. Barrot. I suggest that we start this reflection together [in the context of discussions on the digital bill] so that we can, by [au] September, find the wording that suits us. »
Temporary blockages of social networks, partial or complete, are not explicitly provided for by current French law and the very principle raises important legal questions. The French Constitution, like European law, guarantees the right to freedom of expression, and the Constitutional Council has repeatedly ruled that measures limiting freedom of expression in the name of protecting public order must be proportionate. and justified. In 2020, the Constitutional Council notably censored most of the Avia law on online hate, judging that its main provision, which required social networks to remove “hateful” content within twenty-four hours, constituted “an attack to the exercise of freedom of expression and communication which is unnecessary, appropriate and proportionate”.
On Wednesday, the executive seemed, at least in part, to backtrack. The office of the Secretary of State for Digital assured France Inter that the hypothesis of a blockage was “not on the table”. Olivier Véran, the government spokesperson, explained for his part that it would rather be “suspensions of features, such as geolocation on certain platforms”. But the role played by this type of functionality in the recent riots is unknown, and questionable.
Blockages technically possible but circumventable
Is temporarily blocking social networks technically possible? In theory, yes. In practice, a blocking of social networks would undoubtedly go through the domain name systems (Domain Name System, or DNS), that is to say the referral system used by Internet service providers ( ISP). These servers are used to correctly direct the data circulating on the Internet and are essential for the proper functioning of browsers and applications.
In some cases, whether by decision of the judge or at the direct request of the police, French ISPs are already blocking certain sites with illegal content. They modify their DNS: those who then wish to access a blocked site are automatically redirected to another address. A blockage such as this would also extend, as Mr. Macron mentions, to smartphone applications on the main social networks, such as Snapchat or Twitter, which would no longer be able to communicate with their servers.
Some countries have already applied a blocking of social networks on their territory. Turkey, for example, has repeatedly blocked sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, including in 2014 and 2015, with varying degrees of success. Because if DNS blockages are easy to implement, they are also easily circumvented by doing some research on how to go about it, including on mobile devices. Some messaging or social networks, and in particular Telegram, which was widely used during the riots, have also put in place technical infrastructures to avoid blocking by DNS with some success. Iran and then Russia have tried in the past to block access to the service, without really succeeding.
“The country of human and citizen rights cannot align itself with the great Chinese, Russian and Iranian democracies,” reacted the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, like other elected leftists. Even within the majority, the proposal of the President of the Republic seems to divide: “It would be a mistake, judged the deputy Eric Bothorel (Renaissance), specialist in digital subjects. This would be to renounce the idea that democracy is stronger than the tools that are used against it. Ironically, the head of state’s proposal came two days after the interior ministry had to deny a rumor circulating on social media, based on a false statement from the national police. The latter claimed that Internet access restrictions were going to be put in place in certain districts of large cities.
