France considered restricting social media and cutting mobile internet during protests

French authorities examined the possibility of restricting the use of social media, and even suspending mobile internet in certain areas, in an effort to prevent violent groups from organizing during the October 24 protests. Politico reported that, in the week before Saturday’s protests, France’s Interior Ministry contacted telecommunications operators to discuss ways of limiting online communication. According to information first made public by the French media outlet Blast, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu directly asked phone companies to prepare to block TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X.