The French authorities have been confronted with a series of attacks, the most recent of which (the Conflans-Sainte-Honorine attack) once again illustrated the major role played by the online dissemination, on certain major platforms, of content that incites violence and hatred. They consider that there is an urgent need to take action to make these operators responsible for the position they now occupy in the public sphere, taking into account the systemic risks that their operating models may entail. The logic of Article 19a is based on a system of obligations of means, which corresponds to that adopted by the draft European regulation “Digital Services Act”. The law is intended to be applied pending the entry into force of this European initiative and, in any event, no later than 31 December 2023.

This notification relates specifically to Articles 19 and 19a of the draft law reinforcing compliance with the principles of the Republic. Both articles are part of Chapter IV of the bill dedicated to combatting hate speech and illegal online content.