Internet & Online Safety · France
Online safety & content laws in France (2026)
France shaded by its internet & online safety status
Online safety rules in France: comprehensive law.
FrameworkEU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) as implemented by France's SREN Law (Loi n° 2024-449 of 21 May 2024 on securing and regulating the digital space), layered over the 2004 LCEN (Law for Trust in the Digital Economy, transposing Directive 2000/31/EC). ARCOM is the Digital Services Coordinator; CNIL and DGCCRF are co-competent authorities.
France has one of the EU's most developed online-safety regimes, combining the directly-applicable EU DSA with a national SREN law that adds French-specific rules on age verification for pornography, a cybersecurity anti-scam filter, online harassment (SARIN ban), and enforcement powers. Baseline platform liability follows the LCEN safe-harbour (notice-and-takedown), while ARCOM now supervises very-large platforms alongside CNIL (advertising/profiling) and DGCCRF (traders, transparency). In July 2026 Parliament also adopted a blanket ban on social-media use by under-15s, going beyond the DSA.
The Digital Services Act in France
In France, online platforms and intermediaries are governed by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), a directly-applicable regulation covering illegal content, transparency and user protection.
- Framework
- the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065)
- Approach
- notice-and-action on illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms, and protection of minors
- Applies to
- online intermediaries, hosting services and platforms offering services to users in France, wherever established
- Very large platforms
- platforms and search engines with 45M+ EU users face extra systemic-risk audits, overseen by the European Commission
- Maximum fine
- up to 6% of global annual turnover
- Oversight
- the national Digital Services Coordinator, plus the European Commission for very large platforms
The DSA is an EU regulation applied directly in France; the national Digital Services Coordinator handles day-to-day supervision.
The Digital Services Act in France: FAQ
Yes. As an EU member, France is covered by the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), which applies directly.
Notice-and-action mechanisms for illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms of service, and measures to protect minors.
The national Digital Services Coordinator, with the European Commission supervising very large online platforms and search engines.
Up to 6% of a provider's global annual turnover for serious breaches.
Key points
Loi n° 2024-449 of 21 May 2024 secures and regulates the digital space: it introduces mandatory age-verification for adult sites, an 'anti-scam' cybersecurity filter, a ban on convicted online abusers from platforms (SARIN), cloud interoperability/portability rules, and adapts French law to the DSA, DMA and Data Governance Act. Most provisions entered into force on 23 May 2024, with implementing decrees rolling out through 2025.
Under the SREN Law (Art. 49 DSA), ARCOM is designated as France's Digital Services Coordinator, with CNIL competent for advertising/profiling-based ads and DGCCRF (designated 3 January 2025) competent for trader traceability, compliance-by-design and consumer-facing transparency. The three regulators signed a cooperation agreement on 27 June 2024.
ARCOM's technical referential (published 11 October 2024, effective 11 January 2025 with a card-payment transition to 11 April 2025) requires porn sites accessible from France to deploy at least two age-check methods, including a 'double-anonymity' system. On 6 March 2025 ARCOM found none of the six most-visited platforms compliant; a 26 February 2025 decree extended the list to 17 EU-established video-sharing platforms (including Pornhub, YouPorn, xHamster). The Conseil d'Ătat upheld the order.
The Law for Trust in the Digital Economy (Loi n° 2004-575 of 21 June 2004) transposes the EU e-Commerce Directive: hosting providers are not subject to a general monitoring obligation and benefit from a conditional liability shield, but must act promptly to remove manifestly illegal content once notified. Notification formalities are codified in Article 6 LCEN.
PHAROS (Plateforme d'Harmonisation, d'Analyse, de Recoupement et d'Orientation des Signalements), operated by the Ministry of the Interior since 2009, is the national portal for citizens to report illegal online content (terrorism, CSAM, hate speech, scams). It coordinates with judicial authorities and, since the SREN law, with ARCOM for platform-level action.
Law n° 2023-566 of 7 July 2023 already required platforms to obtain parental consent for users under 15. On 22 July 2026 the National Assembly adopted a blanket ban on social-media accounts for under-15s (with carve-outs for educational services and encyclopaedias), making France the first EU state to legislate a full minimum-age ban; the government is coordinating with the European Commission on DSA compatibility.
Timeline - major decisions & events
The SĂ©nat adopted a modified version of the proposition de loi to protect minors from social-media risks, sending it back to the National Assembly for a second reading; if enacted it would impose a hard age floor with mandatory age verification. It marks France's move from platform self-regulation toward a statutory under-15 ban.
SĂ©nat âDeputies approved the flagship article (116 to 23) banning social-media access for under-15s and suspending existing minors' accounts, under accelerated procedure. The text could take effect for the September 2026 school year.
AssemblĂ©e nationale âFollowing a September referral by MP Arthur Delaporte, the Paris public prosecutor's office launched a preliminary investigation into TikTok's algorithm allegedly steering minors toward self-harm and suicide content. It is one of the first French criminal inquiries targeting a platform's recommender system.
Insurance Journal âA National Assembly commission of inquiry, after 178 hearings and 30,000+ public responses, issued a ~300-page report finding TikTok intentionally addictive and dangerous for minors, with 43 recommendations. It fueled momentum for the under-15 ban and the criminal referral.
JURIST âArcom formally put on notice pornographic sites established elsewhere in the EU but accessible in France for lacking compliant age verification, threatening blocking and delisting. The sites then deployed verification solutions, so blocking proceedings were dropped.
Arcom âA ministerial order (decree of 26 Feb 2025, published 6 March) named 17 popular EU-established video-sharing porn platforms, including Pornhub, YouPorn and xHamster, that must enforce Arcom's age-verification standard or face blocking. It extended SREN's reach to sites outside France.
European Audiovisual Observatory âArcom issued the final technical standard requiring pornographic sites to verify users' ages using privacy-preserving 'double anonymity' solutions, with a transition period to 11 April 2025. Non-compliance can trigger fines up to âŹ150,000 or 2% of global turnover and 48-hour blocking orders.
Arcom âLaw n°2024-449 to secure and regulate the digital space designated Arcom as France's Digital Services Coordinator (with CNIL and DGCCRF), mandated age verification for porn sites, and added duties on illegal content, online harassment and cloud markets. It is the cornerstone of France's current online-safety regime.
Arcom âLaw n°2023-566 established a 'digital majority' of 15, requiring social networks to refuse registration to under-15s without parental consent and to warn minors of online risks, with fines up to 1% of global turnover. It laid the legal groundwork for later age-verification and ban efforts.
LĂ©gifrance âThe Conseil constitutionnel invalidated the 24-hour mandatory takedown obligation and related fines as a disproportionate threat to free expression, gutting the Loi Avia. The ruling shaped France's later, DSA-aligned approach to illegal-content removal.
Library of Congress âLaw n°2014-1353 empowered the Interior Ministry (via OCLCTIC), without prior court order, to require removal and to block/delist sites glorifying terrorism or hosting child sexual abuse material, with CNIL-appointed oversight. It introduced extrajudicial content blocking into French law.
CNIL âLaw n°2004-575 (Loi pour la confiance dans l'Ă©conomie numĂ©rique) transposed the EU e-Commerce Directive, defining publisher vs. hosting-provider liability, shielding hosts from general monitoring duties while requiring notice-and-takedown of illegal content. It remains the bedrock of French online-content law.
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