Online anonymity for French social media users may soon be a thing of the past. This is what France’s minister of justice, Gérald Darmanin, told the newspaper Le Parisien earlier this week.
“In the coming weeks, we will be looking at anonymity on social networks,” Darmanin said. “Let’s take up the proposal put forward by MP Paul Midy that was tabled a few months ago so that each French citizen has his own digital identity.”
“This allows investigators to trace the perpetrator of an offense,” Darmanin added.
Paul Midy, an MP from Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, put forward a proposal that all French citizens should have access to a digital ID by 2027. France’s National Assembly adopted the proposal in October 2023.
In order to ensure the bill’s passage, however, Midy withdrew a provision that would have ended online anonymity in France by 2027 due to widespread opposition to the idea in the Assembly.
The proposed ID was to be facilitated by a third party via an encrypted system. Thus, users would remain anonymous to the public, but their actual identities would be known to law enforcement.
Midy justified his proposal on the grounds that it would address “the level of violence on social networks” and cyberbullying. He compared the concept of a mandatory digital ID linked to a user’s real-world identity to the requirement for all motor vehicles to display a license plate.
Representatives from across the political spectrum opposed the measure, however, including from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally as well as Midy’s own party, Renaissance. Some pointed out that such a step would risk running contrary not only to European Union laws governing privacy, but France’s constitution as well.
Ségolène Amiot, an MP from the left-wing La France Insoumise party, denounced the proposal as a form of repression, while the Socialist Party said it is a “red line” for them. National Rally MP Aurélien Lopez-Liguori said that the French “do not want to wear registrations,” because they are not “cars” nor “prisoners.”
Even a representative from the Democratic Movement (MoDem), which is currently part of the ruling coalition with Macron’s Renaissance, opposed the measure. MoDem MP Philippe Latombe accused Midy of seeking media attention by putting forward proposals that are “legally unfounded.”
Nevertheless, Midy’s plan was supported by 125 of his colleagues in the National Assembly.
Midy claims that opponents of the plan are out of step with French public opinion, however. In March 2024, Midy publicized the results of a survey that had been conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of France’s Association for the Digital Economy. According to this survey, 87% of French citizens support a mandatory digital ID as a way of combating “inappropriate behavior” online such as cyberbullying, scams, fake news, and so on. The same survey showed that 81% of participants would accept having their own identity verified online.
Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin has made it clear that the French government is determined to put an end to online anonymity. “At the Ministry of Justice, we consider that ending anonymity on social networks is of the utmost importance in the fight against pedophilia, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and so on,” he told Le Parisien.
“Why should social networks be the only place where free expression does not have to comply with the Republic’s laws?” he added. “We know that a large part of delinquency and criminality is now digital. The Internet must cease to be a lawless zone.”
Marina Ferrari, France’s Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, indicated last year that the government has no plans to reverse its opposition to the proposal, however. “There are many possibilities to strengthen the certification of online digital identities without necessarily implementing a universal obligation which carries the risk that every citizen’s views and opinions could become traceable,” Ferrari said.
It remains to be seen how the Ministry of Justice intends to overcome this opposition.
