Social media restriction on the agenda in France as Yellow Vests protests continue

While the Yellow Vests protests against the high cost of living continue in France, it is claimed that the government is preparing a temporary access restriction on social media platforms against potential violence. While operators approach this request with distance, approximately 1,000 people were detained in demonstrations across the country.

According to news by French media outlet Blast, a letter was sent on October 22 to representatives of Orange, SFR, Free, and Bouygues Telecom ahead of the Yellow Vests protests. In the letter, operators were requested to prepare to temporarily cut off access to platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and X in the event of potential violence during this weekend's demonstrations.

An online meeting was held between government officials and the legal directors of the operators. According to the meeting minutes, the government wanted the access disruption to be limited to mobile phones and certain regions. The operators, on the other hand, stated that they were not convinced by this request and lacked the capacity to do so in the short term. The government wing has not yet made an official statement regarding the claim.

The Paris government had previously cut off access to TikTok during the protests in New Caledonia in 2024, and the Council of State had annulled this blocking decision in 2025. Approximately 1,000 people have been detained so far in the nationwide protests of the Yellow Vests, who took to the streets again against the high cost of living.