Contrary to the main narrative, french parliamentarians are not only talking about the budget. Every year, they also revisit a familiar theme: an authoritarian drift, marked by increased security, surveillance, and censorship. After several months of relative inactivity, and with upcoming municipal elections in which these issues may carry political weight, the number of debated security-oriented bills is rising. This provides an opportunity to take stock of the issues currently under discussion in the French Parliament.
It is no secret that decisions taken in the French Parliament can have a global impact, particularly within the EU, where countries often look to one another for precedent when justifying controversial legislation.
2030 Olympic Games : Postponing the approval of Video Surveillance algorithms.
In may 2025, the government presented a bill to the Senate in order to organize the 2030 winter Olympics in the French Alps.
The first relevant provision in this law: the postponement of the authorization of algorithmic video surveillance until 2027. As a reminder, a 2024 law concerning the Paris Olympic Games authorized live behavioral recognition tools in public spaces. Despite a questionable overview of the usefulness of this technology, the government shows no intention of halting it and is ready to use the 2030 Olympics as a pretext to continue experimentation (together with the security industry) until 2027. We have a dedicated article on this topic.
This bill also plans on adding a new regime of prohibition regarding the right to appear in public space during major events : the ministry considers that the current framework (the “MICAS” about administrative control and surveillance measures regarding individuals1) is not coercive enough to fulfill their needs. These new prohibitions will allow state prefects to be able to ban an individual from attending any public event, without judicial approval, nor a specific criminal necessity. These measures have been introduced in by a law on narcotic trafficking in June 2025. The 2030 Olympic Games law aims extending this to “any person for whom there are serious reasons to believe that their behavior poses a particularly serious threat to public security.”. It is difficult to make it more vague and more sweeping.
And where do we stand? This bill was adopted by the Senate in May 2025 and by the National Assembly in January 2026. The text will most likely be submitted to the Constitutional Council, which will assess whether the law violates human rights and liberties. If the Council is not seized, the text will be implemented on march 2026.
Facilitating the use of automated systems that detects license plates.
Automatic License Plate Recognition system (ALPR, or LAPI in french) are used by the Customs and police authorities. This technology helps the authorities mostly in detecting car license plates. In October 2025 a bill was proposed to relax the use of such systems.
These measures have multiplied in across French cities for the past decade and are linked with street and toll cameras. Such deployment constitutes mass surveillance, it enables the identification of license plates and therefore the car owners themselves in public space during their daily lives.
Same reason to justify its extension : the tools are practical but too limited under the current framework. The proposition (most likely influenced by the ministry, or security lobbies) wants to extend the end results that can justify the use of such technologies, extend the time in which the data can be kept as well as easing the transmission of said data among different authorities.
And where do we stand ? Currently, the proposition has been adopted by the Senate on December 2025 and is sent to the National Assembly, the voting date is not planned yet.
Extending the powers of municipal police and rural guards
A bill project presented by the interior ministry plans on extending the powers of municipal police and rural guards.
Said authorities will be given prerogatives on the use of aforementioned ALPR technologies, authorization to use surveillance drones, pedestrian cameras, authority to charge fines for misdemeanors (whose number is on the rise mostly in substance use cases). The bill also enables the regions to fund local security equipment. ( A demand of Valérie Pécresse, a french representative who risks here “Security Shield” be rejected by the courts. )
The impact of this bill project is quiet massive for human rights and liberties, as these agents also gain power in identity control. We will be quick in being up to date about its details. It should be noted that this is part of a continuing trend, particularly since the so-called “Global Security” law: a shift of police powers toward agents who are increasingly less trained and less public : judicial police officers, municipal police, rural wardens, and private security personnel.
And where do we stand? The text was adopted by the Senate in October 2025 and was submitted to the National Assembly as of February 11, 2026. The date of its vote has not yet been scheduled
Expanding the supervisory powers of social administrations.
Again, this is a bill that was first presented to the Senate. According to the ministry, its goal is to enforce measures and detect “fiscal and social fraud.” We have written extensively on this topic (here): in this context, we criticize the extension of access, by numerous social administration officers, to large-scale data, including files on airline passengers and telephone communications. This bill is yet another example of the unfortunate proliferation, over the past 20 years, of mass surveillance and control in the name of “combating social fraud”.
And where do we stand ? The bill have been adopted in November 2025 by the Senate, and will be voted around 24th to 27th February 2026.
Prohibition of social media
A bill presented by the government aims at prohibiting social media for people under the age of 15.
This bill, introduced by parliamentarian Laure Miller with the support of the French government, seeks to ban individuals under the age of 15 from creating or using social media accounts. Additionally, it would require all social media platforms to implement mandatory age verification for every user, ensuring that underage individuals cannot access these services. The Conseil d’Etat (State Counsel) have given a negative opinion about the text, but the government and the president Macron is strongly in favor of these measures.
And where do we stand ? The bill was voted on by the French National Assembly on January 26–27, 2026 and is scheduled to be considered by the Senate in the near future. If it is approved, the law is expected to come into effect in September 2026.
Among all the new bills currently being considered in France, this one stands out as particularly likely to influence other countries especially with the rise of hateful content on social media.
Automated surveillance in supermarkets
The latest item in this seemingly endless list is automated surveillance in stores. This is a bill proposed by EPR deputy Paul Midy, one of the leading advocates of the “French Tech”, France’s ecosystem of young, innovative digital startups.
The idea is simple: legalize algorithmic video surveillance in supermarkets. In reality, this serves the interests of the French security industry, which not only seeks to deploy its tools in public spaces but also inside supermarkets. This is exactly what Veesion has been attempting for several years, claiming that its technology can detect behaviors such as theft. These companies face a major obstacle: it is currently illegal. This is not only our opinion but is also stated from multiple sources, the CNIL, the Conseil d’État, and other authorities, all of whom have confirmed that such use is prohibited. In other words, there is no real debate, even though Veesion has never been sanctioned and continues to receive financial support (for more information, click here). Fortunately for them, Paul Midy is attempting to make this technology legal by proposing to incorporate it into the Code of Interior Security.
Where do we stand ? So far, Paul Midy’s bill on automated store surveillance has been approved by the Law Commission and debated in public session at the National Assembly on February 2, 2026. It will face a second public debate session on Monday 16th, February 2026 (the day this translation is being written).
As we can see, the Parliament and the government are quietly greasing the path toward authoritarianism: more surveillance, more censorship, fewer judges… While this list may seem frightening, it also gives us dizzying perspective on how little we can do, both to track these bills and report on the debates, and to try, in any meaningful way, to oppose them.
However, the inventory is not completed : the interior ministry wants to deploy a bill project on “daily security” (even though the text seems to be limited for “illegal street stunts”, it risks of being a legislative vehicle that will bring other dangerous measures, such as Algorithmic video surveillance) and continues to implement Islamophobic measures whenever they can.
This article was translated by volunteers in our Matrix group, thanks to Ismail1071 !
- We did a livestream about this, you can see it here. ↩︎