France moves to suspend social media accounts promoting "protest violence"

More than 100 online alerts have already been submitted to the authorities, with around half resulting in account suspensions as France prepares for further demonstrations.

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In this photo illustration, the social networks.

Picture: SOPA Images/Getty

By Alisa Mysliu

The French government has announced new measures with TikTok, Meta, Snapchat and other major digital platforms to tackle online calls for violence, vandalism and looting following last weekend's unrest.

Representatives from Google, Reddit and Discord also attended a meeting at the Prime Minister's office on Wednesday, where an agreement was reached to improve the handling of potentially illegal content.

Under the arrangements, a dedicated Interior Ministry team, working alongside the PHAROS online reporting service, will coordinate urgent alerts.

Platforms have agreed to prioritise requests from the authorities and respond more quickly.

The system became operational on Thursday, with the government confirming its first results on Friday.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office has asked social media companies to maintain heightened monitoring throughout the weekend of 24 and 25 October.

The initiative follows demonstrations on 17 October that were accompanied by widespread damage and looting in several French cities, including Nice and Marseille.

TikTok has also introduced additional restrictions on certain protest-related search suggestions and strengthened its moderation procedures.

The government says the new arrangements operate within existing legislation, without introducing a general ban on social media platforms.