After the unpalatable trajectory of the « Avia law », and the failure of the GAFA tax at the European level, France is once again taking the risk of making a fool of itself in digital matters. Last week, French ministers made the bombastic announcement that a new law will allow the communications regulator Arcom to block Twitter and other international social networks. In reality, it cannot, and officials from the European Commission confirm that French authorities will not be able to block platforms that are not headquartered in France, including Twitter. In any event, this blocking power must be exercised not by an administrative authority, but by a judge. After last week’s shambolic statements by the Minister of Digital Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot about France enabling the Arcom to block Twitter and other large platforms, we investigated. According to him, the future digital law could allow the French authorities to block Twitter, an international platform whose European headquarters are situated in Dublin, Ireland. But such measures would be contrary to the Digital Services Act, the new European platforms regulation. « As the French authorities have not yet notified the draft to the Commission, we aren’t in a position to comment on the substance », said…
