The law to secure the digital space will not require social networks to verify the identity of their users: the amendments against anonymity on the internet were finally withdrawn on Wednesday during the examination of the text in committee at the National Assembly. The tabling at the beginning of the week of these amendments by the majority deputy Paul Midy, general rapporteur of the bill, presented as functioning “on the same principle as a license plate”, provoked a barrage of his colleagues.
According to Ségolène Amiot (LFI), violence on the networks “is not a problem of anonymity but a problem of repression”, linked to the lack of resources of the justice system. Aurélien Taché (EELV) for his part denounced this initiative as “attempts to better control citizens on the internet”, while Aurélien Lopez-Liguori (RN) judged the measure “liberticidal”. Even within the majority, MP Éric Bothorel estimated that the system would not work.
The Minister responsible for digital affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, for his part, approved the idea that social networks be encouraged “in the future” to offer their users the opportunity to provide proof of identity, so that they can choose to only communicate with other certified users. But he stressed that these amendments would risk “encroaching on European compromises at the time of adoption of the DSA”, the regulation on digital services which gives new obligations to platforms, or even being unconstitutional and arousing distrust. public. He recalled that several platforms already offered identity verification systems with the risk of moving towards “private and discriminatory solutions”.
Certified accounts on X (formerly Twitter) notably became paying following the purchase of the platform by Elon Musk. The minister thus favors the development of state “digital identity”. An amendment was adopted aimed at providing 80% of French people with a digital identity by January 1, 2027, and 100% by January 1, 2030.