00:00Is France going to link its digital ID to your social media accounts?
00:07A claim is circulating online that France is entering an era of total traceability,
00:13amid allegations that the country's digital ID will be directly tied to personal social media accounts.
00:20This post on X says that the measure would, on paper,
00:23allow authorities to fight against the bad guys,
00:26but that, unofficially, it would be one more step towards a society where words and opinions are policed.
00:32It attaches a video of Paul Midy, a member of the French Parliament and of President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance Party,
00:40giving an interview in which he says that the measure would prevent complete anonymity online
00:44to help tackle impunity for online harassment and other illegality.
00:48However, the caption is wrong.
00:50While French MPs did consider linking the digital ID to citizens' social media,
00:54these proposals were rejected, and the country is not currently poised to introduce the measure.
00:59The idea first emerged in 2023 as part of the discussion on the law aimed at securing and regulating the digital space, or SREN law.
01:09At the time, Midy and others tabled an amendment that would have required a certification by a state-approved third party,
01:16such as the digital ID, when creating new accounts on social media.
01:19The video of Midy attached to the social media post is from an interview with French radio station RTL.
01:26It's around the time that politicians were discussing the proposed amendment, so it's not new.
01:31Ultimately, the amendment faced fierce opposition and was withdrawn,
01:34and the final law came into force in May 2024,
01:38without the measure linking digital IDs with social media accounts.
01:41As things stand, the digital ID can be used to verify someone's age when creating a social media account, for example,
01:48but you're not required to do so, and the digital ID is not automatically linked to your social media accounts.
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