France prepares to block social media platforms to combat riots

France’s government has asked the country’s largest telecommunications companies to prepare to temporarily block access to major social media platforms amid violent riots that have continued across the country.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu sent a letter on Thursday to French telecommunications companies asking them to prepare to suspend access to TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and X. The letter, first reported by the French outlet Blast, followed violent demonstrators who have looted, vandalized property, and clashed with police.

“The urban riots that occurred in several French cities during the day of mobilization on October 17, 2026, and that continued on Sunday, October 18, revealed the convergence of several protest and grievance movements, stoked by violent and particularly determined elements,” the letter stated.

“Other individuals took advantage of the resulting disorder to smash, vandalize, set fires, ransack, and loot. It is evident that several social networks played a decisive role not only in the crystallization and viral spread of unlawful slogans (‘mots d’ordre illicites’) but also as levers for the operational coordination of violence during the demonstrations (organization of looting, exchanges about targets, movement of groups, or positions of the security forces).”

“In the event that such events were to recur, I wish to have the ability to temporarily suspend access to these services in case of a repeat of urban violence,” Lecornu continued. “This would mean temporarily blocking access to the applications Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram by filtering their domain names (DNS), while preserving, as far as possible, fixed-line Internet access to these applications and, in any case, access to other Internet sites and services on both fixed and mobile networks.”

“In order to prepare such a measure, which could be decided on the weekend of October 24 and 25 depending on the operational context, I ask you to anticipate as of today the technical operations necessary to implement it,” he added. “The point is to put you in a position, if I give the instruction, to proceed without delay with the temporary suspension of the services concerned, for a duration of a few hours. I would like you to inform me of the technical conditions under which you could implement such a suspension. It is indeed necessary to carry out a suspension that is as targeted as possible, without introducing distortion between operators.”

The French government has previously pursued efforts to curb online content amid unrest. In 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested a ban on social media platforms when deemed necessary by the government.

“We need to have a think about social media, about the bans we need to put in place,” Macron said at the time. “And when things get out of hand, we may need to put ourselves in a position to regulate or cut them off.”

Additionally, former prime minister and current presidential candidate Gabriel Attal has endorsed the idea of social media blackouts. As prime minister in 2024, France blocked access to TikTok for two weeks during riots in the territory of New Caledonia. The ban was struck down by France’s highest administrative court but left the possibility open for social media bans in “exceptional circumstances.”

In a recent interview, Attal said, “You have young people at home who see their friends going out to loot, which gives the impression that they’re getting away with it; they see them on social media, and then they go out too.”

Media reports have suggested that the French protests are largely a result of young people seeking education reform and protesting the cost of living. However, multiple reports have indicated that such demonstrations are being promoted by far-left groups within the country. Many of the demonstrators are also believed to be of foreign descent.