France
France continues to promote freedom
of the press and speech online by
allowing access to most content.
France’s Internet penetration rate is
constantly increasing, and the French
government has undertaken numerous measures to protect the rights of
Internet users, including the passage
of the Loi pour la Confiance dans
l’E ´ conomie Nume ´rique (LCEN, Law for
Trust in the Digital Economy) in 2004. However, the passing of a new copyright
law threatening to ban users from the Internet upon their third violation has
drawn much criticism from privacy advocates as well as the European Union
(EU) parliament.
Background
As one of the founding nations of European economic and political integration, France
is seen as a key player on the European stage. However, the country sent shockwaves
through the EU when its voters rejected the proposed EU constitution in a May 2005
referendum. 1 In May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidential election with a 53
percent majority vote. 2 The current government is a center-right administration that
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
Filtering
No Evidence
of Filtering
Suspected
Filtering
Selective
Filtering
Substantial
Filtering
Pervasive
Filtering
Political
Social
Conflict and security
Internet tools
Other Factors
Low
Medium
High
Not
Applicable
Transparency
Consistency
France continues to promote freedom
of the press and speech online by
allowing access to most content.
France’s Internet penetration rate is
constantly increasing, and the French
government has undertaken numerous measures to protect the rights of
Internet users, including the passage
of the Loi pour la Confiance dans
l’E ´ conomie Nume ´rique (LCEN, Law for
Trust in the Digital Economy) in 2004. However, the passing of a new copyright
law threatening to ban users from the Internet upon their third violation has
drawn much criticism from privacy advocates as well as the European Union
(EU) parliament.
Background
As one of the founding nations of European economic and political integration, France
is seen as a key player on the European stage. However, the country sent shockwaves
through the EU when its voters rejected the proposed EU constitution in a May 2005
referendum. 1 In May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidential election with a 53
percent majority vote. 2 The current government is a center-right administration that
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
Filtering
No Evidence
of Filtering
Suspected
Filtering
Selective
Filtering
Substantial
Filtering
Pervasive
Filtering
Political
Social
Conflict and security
Internet tools
Other Factors
Low
Medium
High
Not
Applicable
Transparency
Consistency