France had a bill to make rioters pay for the stuff they smash. It had five articles, and none of them had anything to do with the internet. Then the Senate got hold of it. Now the police can get posts taken down without a judge being involved. If a platform doesn’t delete within 24 hours, it’s looking at prison time, fines of up to 2% of global turnover, and getting blocked. There was also a one-hour takedown rule, but the Interior Minister pulled it because it might be unconstitutional. (He’s said he wants to bring it back later anyway.) You can also get banned from social media for organizing a protest that wasn’t declared properly. The police can fly as many camera drones as they like, and AI gets to watch the footage until 2030. France’s top court already threw out a one-hour takedown rule back in 2020. Apparently nobody in the government took that as a hint.

Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights

France’s Senate Approves Bill Expanding Police Powers Over Online Speech

A bill about broken windows now reaches into feeds, cameras, and the machinery of dissent and criticism.