French officials called online platforms into emergency meetings as demonstrations over high living costs and strained public services escalated into rioting and looting. The discussions focused on two linked concerns: content that could encourage violence or curfew violations, and the resale of goods taken from shops and businesses.
Officials sought faster action on platform content
Anne Le Hananff, France’s minister of digital affairs, met social media representatives on Tuesday. Authorities wanted platforms to moderate material on their services, including livestream video, and to avoid hosting violent content or posts that could encourage people to break the imposed curfew, according to French TV station BFM.
The meetings came after platforms were blamed for fanning the unrest, described in the source as the worst civil unrest the country has seen in years. The government’s message was that content moderation matters during a fast-moving public crisis, when online posts may reach people as events unfold.
A WIRED review of TikTok found that searches for “blocus”—French for blockade—returned videos that could have been altered or generated with AI. Among them were viral images showing a protester in a Pink Panther costume. The search term was also being used to promote “Act II” of the protests for October 24.
TikTok displayed an “evolving situation” notice on the search term. It cautioned users that information could be unverified, incomplete, inaccurate, or subject to change, and urged them to take care and report material that might violate the platform’s Community Guidelines.
Resale sites agreed to help investigators
A separate meeting took place on Monday with major online resale platforms. Serge Papin, minister for small and medium-size enterprises, confirmed it on X. He said “an agreement was signed” to crack down on the resale of looted goods.
French newspaper Le Monde reported that Vinted, eBay, Amazon, LeBonCoin, Meta, and TikTok attended. According to Papin, the platforms agreed to forward reports to investigators, monitor advertisements for items stolen specifically during the protests, and provide the government with reports on their actions. The first report was due within 48 hours.
The agreement connects platform monitoring with law enforcement: reports can help investigators, while review of listings can make it harder to sell goods taken during the unrest. The source does not describe how platforms will determine whether a particular item was stolen, so the speed and accuracy of that process remain important practical questions.
Looting brought pressure beyond the internet
Peaceful demonstrations against high living costs and strained public services, including schools, turned into riots and the looting of more than 1,500 shops and businesses over the weekend. Police “lost control” in some cities, Interior minister Laurent Nuñez admitted. Officers responded with tear gas, water cannon, and batons.
Authorities said more than 2,400 people had since been arrested. The scale of the looting raised concerns that stolen goods could quickly appear on ecommerce sites, extending the impact of the unrest beyond the streets and into online marketplaces.
French penal law can impose a five-year sentence and a €375,000 fine on anyone concealing, possessing, or transferring an item they know was obtained through a crime or offense. Police in the Netherlands also warned that online ecommerce sites could see more stolen goods as a result of the riots.
Marketplaces describe their monitoring measures
The French Alliance of Marketplaces, a nonprofit representing French online retailers such as Back Market, eBay, Etsy, LeBonCoin, ManoMano, and Vinted, said members use user reports, human oversight, and technology tools to monitor advertisements for goods stolen during the riots.
When a fake advertisement is identified, it is removed and action is taken against the accounts involved. An eBay statement said that action could include permanently suspending a seller’s account. The company said the time required to act “depends on the nature of the report and the necessary verification process.”
Vinted, Amazon, LeBonCoin, Meta, and TikTok did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. The response described by the marketplaces relies on reports and review, while the government’s agreement adds commitments to monitor protest-related listings and share information with investigators.