https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed President Emmanuel Macron is hoping France will become one of the first European Union countries to ban social media for under-15s, following similar moves in Australia and Indonesia. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260401/france-eyes-ban-on-social-media-for-under-15s Wed, 01 Apr 2026 08:46:00 +0200 france-eyes-ban-on-social-media-for-under-15s The French government is proposing a new law that would ban smartphones in lycées - high schools - extending bans already in place for younger pupils, but teaching unions oppose the idea. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260107/why-french-teachers-are-against-the-phone-ban-in-schools Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:14:35 +0100 why-french-teachers-are-against-the-phone-ban-in-schools A French mother whose teenage son took his own life is fighting to hold social media platforms accountable, saying their algorithms pushed suicide-related content that sent the 15-year-old into a "downward spiral". https://www.thelocal.fr/20251210/downward-spiral-french-mother-blames-social-media-for-teens-suicide Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:46:47 +0100 downward-spiral-french-mother-blames-social-media-for-teens-suicide Social media platform TikTok has criticised the opening of a French criminal investigation into its algorithms, accused of driving young people to suicide. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251105/tiktok-denounces-french-criminal-probe-over-youth-suicides Wed, 05 Nov 2025 10:12:40 +0100 tiktok-denounces-french-criminal-probe-over-youth-suicides US social media giant Facebook on Monday said it had agreed with the French government to pay €106 million in back taxes for its French operations over a 10-year period from 2009, and to pay 50 percent more tax in the current year. https://www.thelocal.fr/20200824/facebook-agrees-with-france-to-pay-106-million-in-back-taxes Mon, 24 Aug 2020 19:00:02 +0200 facebook-agrees-with-france-to-pay-106-million-in-back-taxes Facebook said Friday that it will not pay French media groups to display photos or video and text excerpts alongside links to articles shared by its users, in defiance of new EU copyright rules. https://www.thelocal.fr/20191026/facebook-refuses-to-pay-french-media-for-links Sat, 26 Oct 2019 11:16:06 +0200 facebook-refuses-to-pay-french-media-for-links Facebook announced on Friday changes to the way political advertisements are handled on the social media site ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190330/facebook-to-deploy-new-transparency-tools-ahead-of-european-elections Sat, 30 Mar 2019 09:47:35 +0100 facebook-to-deploy-new-transparency-tools-ahead-of-european-elections A French teenager who was filmed threatening his teacher with a fake gun in a tough Paris suburb was charged Sunday with aggravated violence, prosecutors said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20181022/outrage-in-france-after-teen-threatens-teacher-with-fake-gun Mon, 22 Oct 2018 11:09:18 +0200 outrage-in-france-after-teen-threatens-teacher-with-fake-gun The broadcast of an alleged rape by two men on a “groggy” woman on social media site Snapchat has caused outrage in France and led to police opening an investigation. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160104/probe-in-france-after-rape-video-broadcast-on-snapchat Mon, 04 Jan 2016 11:29:36 +0100 probe-in-france-after-rape-video-broadcast-on-snapchat An 18-year-old has been handed a two-year prison sentence for writing thousands of tweets praising Isis, as well as making a death threat against a local imam. https://www.thelocal.fr/20151211/teen-in-france-jailed-for-glorifying-terrorism Fri, 11 Dec 2015 10:13:10 +0100 teen-in-france-jailed-for-glorifying-terrorism President Francois Hollande called on Wednesday for French citizens to adorn their homes with flags during the day of mourning for victims of the Paris attacks, but the family of one victim has called for people to boycott this homage. https://www.thelocal.fr/20151125/paris-victims-sister-calls-for-boycott-of-hollandes-homage Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:17:54 +0100 paris-victims-sister-calls-for-boycott-of-hollandes-homage With Parisians vowing to show resolve in the aftermath of the horrific terror attacks, a social media campaign is urging those in Paris to be brave enough to head back to the bistro on Tuesday night. https://www.thelocal.fr/20151116/parisians-are-heading-back-to-the-bistrot Mon, 16 Nov 2015 16:28:29 +0100 parisians-are-heading-back-to-the-bistrot A shovel-wielding Frenchman has become an unwitting star of the internet after social media users took the chance to edit a photo of him wearing his underwear. https://www.thelocal.fr/20151109/frenchman-in-underpants-becomes-web-star Mon, 09 Nov 2015 19:06:43 +0100 frenchman-in-underpants-becomes-web-star Twitter users in France have called on the social network to act after supporters of the terrorists started using the hashtag #JeSuisKouachi (‘I am Kouachi’). However, the popularity of the hashtag was boosted when appalled opponents also started using it. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150110/french-twitter-disgust-over-i-am-kouachi-hashtag Sat, 10 Jan 2015 15:04:00 +0100 french-twitter-disgust-over-i-am-kouachi-hashtag A French association fighting alcohol addiction has filed a legal complaint in a bid to crackdown on Neknominate - the deadly social media booze craze. The group wants anyone caught playing to be charged with offences that come with jail sentences of up to two years. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140318/french-association-seeks-to-make-neknomination-illegal Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:32:00 +0100 french-association-seeks-to-make-neknomination-illegal Five homeless people in France have been given smartphones to tweet about their everyday lives, as part of a project to break down prejudices associated with homelessness and combat loneliness. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131106/homeless-frenchmen-tweet-about-their-lives Wed, 06 Nov 2013 15:44:00 +0100 homeless-frenchmen-tweet-about-their-lives A ruling by a court in south west France this week might send a shudder through avid Facebook users after judges upheld a company's decision to sack an employee because she spent too much time on the social media site. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130905/recruiter-sacked-for-being-on-facebook-too-much Thu, 05 Sep 2013 15:35:00 +0200 recruiter-sacked-for-being-on-facebook-too-much American social networking site and virtual bulletin board Pinterest announced on Tuesday it was to introduce a specialized version of the website and smartphone app specifically designed for users in France. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130611/pinterest-launches-localized-version-for-france Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:29:00 +0200 pinterest-launches-localized-version-for-france A young man from the south of France who announced his intention to commit suicide on his Facebook page was saved after youngsters hundreds of miles away saw his post and alerted authorities. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130227/suicide-attempt-foiled-with-aid-of-facebook Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:15:00 +0100 suicide-attempt-foiled-with-aid-of-facebook Five students at a prestigious French school have been excluded after creating fake and insulting Facebook accounts for some of their teachers. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130208/students-excluded-for-insulting-teachers-on-facebook Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:58:00 +0100 students-excluded-for-insulting-teachers-on-facebook