Online safety & content laws in France (2026)

Legal framework

EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) as implemented by France's SREN Law (Loi n° 2024-449 of 21 May 2024 on securing and regulating the digital space), layered over the 2004 LCEN (Law for Trust in the Digital Economy, transposing Directive 2000/31/EC). ARCOM is the Digital Services Coordinator; CNIL and DGCCRF are co-competent authorities.

The Digital Services Act in France

In France, online platforms and intermediaries are governed by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), a directly-applicable regulation covering illegal content, transparency and user protection.

Framework

the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065)

Approach

notice-and-action on illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms, and protection of minors

Applies to

online intermediaries, hosting services and platforms offering services to users in France, wherever established

Very large platforms

platforms and search engines with 45M+ EU users face extra systemic-risk audits, overseen by the European Commission

Maximum fine

up to 6% of global annual turnover

Oversight

the national Digital Services Coordinator, plus the European Commission for very large platforms

The DSA is an EU regulation applied directly in France; the national Digital Services Coordinator handles day-to-day supervision.

Key points: internet & online safety in France

1. 01SREN Law (national online-safety statute)

   Loi n° 2024-449 of 21 May 2024 secures and regulates the digital space: it introduces mandatory age-verification for adult sites, an 'anti-scam' cybersecurity filter, a ban on convicted online abusers from platforms (SARIN), cloud interoperability/portability rules, and adapts French law to the DSA, DMA and Data Governance Act. Most provisions entered into force on 23 May 2024, with implementing decrees rolling out through 2025.

   legifrance.gouv.fr twobirds.com

2. 02DSA enforcement architecture

   Under the SREN Law (Art. 49 DSA), ARCOM is designated as France's Digital Services Coordinator, with CNIL competent for advertising/profiling-based ads and DGCCRF (designated 3 January 2025) competent for trader traceability, compliance-by-design and consumer-facing transparency. The three regulators signed a cooperation agreement on 27 June 2024.

   arcom.fr hoganlovells.com

3. 03Age verification for pornographic sites

   ARCOM's technical referential (published 11 October 2024, effective 11 January 2025 with a card-payment transition to 11 April 2025) requires porn sites accessible from France to deploy at least two age-check methods, including a 'double-anonymity' system. On 6 March 2025 ARCOM found none of the six most-visited platforms compliant; a 26 February 2025 decree extended the list to 17 EU-established video-sharing platforms (including Pornhub, YouPorn, xHamster). The Conseil d'État upheld the order.

   arcom.fr twobirds.com conseil-etat.fr

4. 04Platform liability — LCEN safe-harbour

   The Law for Trust in the Digital Economy (Loi n° 2004-575 of 21 June 2004) transposes the EU e-Commerce Directive: hosting providers are not subject to a general monitoring obligation and benefit from a conditional liability shield, but must act promptly to remove manifestly illegal content once notified. Notification formalities are codified in Article 6 LCEN.

   legifrance.gouv.fr wilmap.stanford.edu

5. 05PHAROS reporting platform & illegal content

   PHAROS (Plateforme d'Harmonisation, d'Analyse, de Recoupement et d'Orientation des Signalements), operated by the Ministry of the Interior since 2009, is the national portal for citizens to report illegal online content (terrorism, CSAM, hate speech, scams). It coordinates with judicial authorities and, since the SREN law, with ARCOM for platform-level action.

   internet-signalement.gouv.fr techagainstterrorism.org

6. 06Minors on social media

   Law n° 2023-566 of 7 July 2023 already required platforms to obtain parental consent for users under 15. On 22 July 2026 the National Assembly adopted a blanket ban on social-media accounts for under-15s (with carve-outs for educational services and encyclopaedias), making France the first EU state to legislate a full minimum-age ban; the government is coordinating with the European Commission on DSA compatibility.

   legifrance.gouv.fr france24.com npr.org

The Digital Services Act in France: FAQ

Timeline of decisions

1. 31 Mar 2026Law · official
   Senate passes (amended) bill barring under-15s from social media

   The Sénat adopted a modified version of the proposition de loi to protect minors from social-media risks, sending it back to the National Assembly for a second reading; if enacted it would impose a hard age floor with mandatory age verification. It marks France's move from platform self-regulation toward a statutory under-15 ban.

   Sénat

2. 27 Jan 2026Law · official
   National Assembly adopts under-15 social media ban in first reading

   Deputies approved the flagship article (116 to 23) banning social-media access for under-15s and suspending existing minors' accounts, under accelerated procedure. The text could take effect for the September 2026 school year.

   Assemblée nationale

3. 4 Nov 2025Enforcement
   Paris prosecutor opens criminal probe into TikTok over harms to minors

   Following a September referral by MP Arthur Delaporte, the Paris public prosecutor's office launched a preliminary investigation into TikTok's algorithm allegedly steering minors toward self-harm and suicide content. It is one of the first French criminal inquiries targeting a platform's recommender system.

   Insurance Journal

4. 1 Sept 2025Guidance
   Parliamentary inquiry report condemns TikTok's design for minors

   A National Assembly commission of inquiry, after 178 hearings and 30,000+ public responses, issued a ~300-page report finding TikTok intentionally addictive and dangerous for minors, with 43 recommendations. It fueled momentum for the under-15 ban and the criminal referral.

   JURIST

5. 1 Aug 2025Enforcement · official
   Arcom issues formal notices to EU-based pornographic sites

   Arcom formally put on notice pornographic sites established elsewhere in the EU but accessible in France for lacking compliant age verification, threatening blocking and delisting. The sites then deployed verification solutions, so blocking proceedings were dropped.

   Arcom

6. 6 Mar 2025Decision · official
   Decree designates 17 EU-based porn sites for age-verification duties

   A ministerial order (decree of 26 Feb 2025, published 6 March) named 17 popular EU-established video-sharing porn platforms, including Pornhub, YouPorn and xHamster, that must enforce Arcom's age-verification standard or face blocking. It extended SREN's reach to sites outside France.

   European Audiovisual Observatory

7. 11 Oct 2024Guidance · official
   Arcom publishes binding age-verification standard (référentiel)

   Arcom issued the final technical standard requiring pornographic sites to verify users' ages using privacy-preserving 'double anonymity' solutions, with a transition period to 11 April 2025. Non-compliance can trigger fines up to €150,000 or 2% of global turnover and 48-hour blocking orders.

   Arcom

8. 21 May 2024Law · official
   SREN law enacted, designating Arcom as DSA coordinator

   Law n°2024-449 to secure and regulate the digital space designated Arcom as France's Digital Services Coordinator (with CNIL and DGCCRF), mandated age verification for porn sites, and added duties on illegal content, online harassment and cloud markets. It is the cornerstone of France's current online-safety regime.

   Arcom

9. 7 Jul 2023Law · official
   Digital majority law sets social-media age of consent at 15

   Law n°2023-566 established a 'digital majority' of 15, requiring social networks to refuse registration to under-15s without parental consent and to warn minors of online risks, with fines up to 1% of global turnover. It laid the legal groundwork for later age-verification and ban efforts.

   Légifrance

10. 18 Jun 2020Decision · official
    Constitutional Council strikes down core of the Avia hate-speech law

    The Conseil constitutionnel invalidated the 24-hour mandatory takedown obligation and related fines as a disproportionate threat to free expression, gutting the Loi Avia. The ruling shaped France's later, DSA-aligned approach to illegal-content removal.

    Library of Congress

11. 13 Nov 2014Law · official
    Anti-terrorism law authorizes administrative blocking of websites

    Law n°2014-1353 empowered the Interior Ministry (via OCLCTIC), without prior court order, to require removal and to block/delist sites glorifying terrorism or hosting child sexual abuse material, with CNIL-appointed oversight. It introduced extrajudicial content blocking into French law.

    CNIL

12. 21 Jun 2004Law · official
    LCEN establishes the foundational internet liability regime

    Law n°2004-575 (Loi pour la confiance dans l'économie numérique) transposed the EU e-Commerce Directive, defining publisher vs. hosting-provider liability, shielding hosts from general monitoring duties while requiring notice-and-takedown of illegal content. It remains the bedrock of French online-content law.

    Légifrance

Sources

1. 1.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000049563368
2. 2.arcom.fr/en/professional-space/regulations-on-digital-services-or-dsa-obligati
3. 3.arcom.fr/en/press/fighting-exposure-persons-under-18-pornography-arcom-issues-
4. 4.twobirds.com/en/insights/2024/france/la-loi-sren-securisation-et-regulation-de-l-e
5. 5.hoganlovells.com/en/publications/france-is-ready-to-launch-dsa-enforcement-in-2025
6. 6.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000801164/
7. 7.conseil-etat.fr/en/news/pornographic-websites-the-order-requiring-user-age-verificati
8. 8.france24.com/en/france/20260721-french-lawmakers-expected-to-pass-social-media-ban
9. 9.twobirds.com/en/insights/2025/france's-new-age-verification-standard-tightening-co
10. 10.wilmap.stanford.edu/entries/law-no-2004-575-confidence-digital-economy-loi-pour-la-confia
11. 11.internet-signalement.gouv.fr/
12. 12.techagainstterrorism.org/news/2020/10/20/the-online-regulation-series-france
13. 13.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000047798467
14. 14.npr.org/2026/07/22/g-s1-134875/france-social-media-ban