The bill “to secure and regulate the digital space” is becoming clearer. The text, which should be presented this Wednesday, May 10 in the Council of Ministers, will consist of about twenty measures. Objective: “to transcribe on a digital scale the public order that exists in real life”, according to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. The bill should begin its parliamentary journey before the summer with a debate in the Senate. Here are the main points.
Arcom will be able to block pornographic sites
This Sunday, May 7, the Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot announced to AFP that he was going to give the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom) the possibility of blocking and delisting pornographic sites that do not comply with the law on the protection of minors. “There is an urgent need to remove our children from the onslaught of porn images on the Internet and to enforce the law once and for all,” he commented.
The text provides that the institution can use this power without appealing to a judge. For now, Arcom can only send formal notices to sites if it finds violations. In the absence of a response, it must seize the Paris court to obtain the blocking of the telecom operators. A first procedure which should lead to a decision on July 7 is also aimed at the sector giants Pornhub and Xvideos.
Setting up an anti-scam filter
The promise was included in the re-election program of the President of the Republic. The bill provides for the establishment of an automatically accessible anti-scam filter. In fact, a warning message should be sent to anyone visiting a site registered as malicious. Personal training account (CPF) or health insurance scams are particularly targeted.
“The most fragile, the furthest from digital are often the main victims of these pirates”, explained Jean-Noël Barrot. A list of fraudulent sites should be drawn up after the adoption of the text, in cooperation with Internet service providers. However, the Minister specified that remedies allowing sites to be removed from the list in the event of abuse would be introduced.
Banning cyberbullies
“We must put an end to the feeling of impunity online”, announced Jean-Noël Barrot, presenting the provisions provided for by the text aimed at stemming online harassment. The European Digital Services Regulation (DSA), transcribed into the bill, provides for the obligation for large digital platforms to remove accounts reported to them.
The government wants to go further, by adding a penalty of banishment to this measure. In fact, the judge may require a social network to prevent the re-registration of a person convicted of cyberbullying. This sentence could last 6 months in the case of a first offence; one year if it is a recurrence. The government has no illusions about the technical means to circumvent this ban, but the minister considers that it should nevertheless “deprive [les comptes visés] of their sounding board”.
Block propaganda media
The text should give Arcom the power to block the distribution on the Internet of media banned in the territory of the European Union. This measure obviously targets non-European streaming sites like Rumble or Odysee, which had made a name for themselves by broadcasting the pro-Russian propaganda channels Russia Today and Sputnik, despite their ban in the EU.
Companies will be able to switch cloud more easily
The text will also contain some economic measures for businesses. In particular, it should allow firms to change providers of IT infrastructure and services much more easily. These “cloud operators” will be required to allow easier portability of data between competitors.