Around twenty measures, three main axes, and one slogan: offer a “more secure and sovereign digital space to all French people”. The SREN bill (“Securing and regulating the digital space”), presented in May to the Council of Ministers before its adoption at first reading in the Senate on July 5, will be debated in the National Assembly from Wednesday October 4 .
Heard at the end of September by the commission in charge of the bill in the National Assembly, the Minister Delegate in charge of Digital Jean-Noël Barrot hammered it home: “This text has a common thread, that of the protection of the French in the digital space. And if the measures it contains are very diverse, it is because this bill is aimed at three categories of users. All French citizens, but also miners, businesses and communities. But what will this text supported by the government bring in practice? L’Express details its main measures.
Blocking pornographic sites accessible to minors
The bill debated on Wednesday should strengthen the powers of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) in terms of the protection of minors. If the legislator has already strengthened the tools to combat minors’ access to pornographic sites, by requiring platforms to put in place controls, the SREN law should take a further step. Arcom would now be authorized to simply block sites that do not respect the obligation to protect minors, without going through a judge, as was the case until now.
According to one study published in May by the regulatory body, the use of adult sites by minors has increased significantly in recent years. Nearly 2.3 million young people under the age of 18 visit these sites each month, an increase of 36% in five years.
An “anti-scam” filter
Emmanuel Macron had included it in his political program, the bill intends to put it in place: an anti-scam filter should be established to protect users against online phishing attempts. The process should be very simple for Internet users, who will simply be warned by an alert message when they attempt to click on a fraudulent link received by email or SMS.
On the logistics side, this system should be implemented using a database bringing together all the sites reported as fraudulent by users. In the event of abusive reports, remedies will be established to allow the sites to be restored.
Fight against cyberharassment
To put an end to online harassment practices, the SREN bill should transpose into French law the European regulation on digital services (DSA) already adopted. The text thus obliges social networks and online platforms to take rapid action against users who have been the subject of a report.
But the French legislator should go further, and allow the judge to order the banning of a user for a period of 6 months, or a year in the event of a repeat offense. Online sites would be required to prevent the re-registration of the convicted user for the duration of this exclusion.
The rapporteur of the text, the Renaissance deputy Paul Midy, also announced his desire to table an amendment to put an end to online anonymity. Pseudonymity would remain possible, but sites would have to implement digital identity certification. A measure which is debated, and was not provided for in the bill initially tabled by the government. The presidential majority, which sees this provision as a way to fight more effectively online, should face frank opposition from certain deputies. The PS considers the proposal as a “red line”, when RN deputy Aurélien Lopez-Liguori speaks of a “liberticidal project”.
Making it easier for businesses to switch clouds
Companies that operate online today must use a cloud provider to store their data online, and in the event of a change, switching to another operator is very expensive: transfer costs are on average at 125% of the annual subscription. The SREN bill should ban them, and make it easier for companies to change suppliers.
Fight against deepfake
Another provision which had not been planned by the government: the fight against “hyperfaking”, a phenomenon better known as “deepfake”, or the publication of videos generated by artificial intelligence and which reproduce physical appearance of a real person. Two amendments were tabled in this regard by senators during their examination of the text. The first requires users to specify the artificial nature of a video when publishing a deepfake, the second prohibits the production of pornographic deepfake representing a person without their consent.