FRANCE: Civicus Monitor Update – October 2026
This alert originally appeared on CIVICUS Monitor
Introduction
Developments throughout 2025 and 2026 point to a growing deterioration of civic space in France. This deterioration was recognised in December 2025 when the CIVICUS Monitor downgraded France’s civic space rating from “Narrowed” to “Obstructed”, placing the country alongside states where civic freedoms face significant constraints. Against this backdrop, civil society actors in France have continued to report increased political scrutiny, restrictive legislative initiatives, funding cuts, criminalisation of activism, and disproportionate policing practices across the three core civic freedoms in France throughout 2026. While several of the legislative proposals have not yet been adopted or have been withdrawn following public opposition, they nevertheless signal an increasingly hostile environment for civic participation and public dissent.
Freedom of Association
Legislative moves and parliamentary scrutiny put pressure on civil society
“Gagging amendments” to the 2026 budget target CSO tax benefits
During debates on the 2026 budget between October and November 2025, members of the French National Assembly tabled a series of so-called “gagging amendments” that would restrict the ability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to operate freely by stripping them of certain tax benefits.
Amendments 365, 573, 2365 and 2608 targeted environmental groups documenting the consequences of industrial agriculture. They would have widened the list of offences that can lead to donors losing tax benefits, adding unauthorised image capture, trespassing, land occupation, property destruction and defamation. Amendments 280, 37, 281, 923 and 1174 would have excluded donations to any organisation convicted of aiding undocumented immigrants from the tax reduction scheme. Amendment 282 applied to all types of CSOs and would have removed tax exemptions for donations to any organisation convicted of an offence, regardless of the reason.
Critics described the amendments as “gagging” because they would undermine CSOs’ ability to access funding and infringe on their freedom of expression. All were ultimately rejected.
Senate bill on “Islamic entryism” would expand state powers over associations
In May 2026, the French Senate passed a bill aimed at combating “Islamic entryism”, which would significantly restrict freedom of association and local governance. Proposed by former Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, it would expand the grounds for dissolving associations, widen the use of the Republican Commitment Contract (CER) and extend asset freezes to individuals. One of its most contentious provisions would allow prefects and senior government officials to override decisions made by local authorities and withdraw subsidies from associations they deem to be in breach of the CER and “republican principles”. CSOs have warned that the bill infringes the right to freedom of association and violates the constitutional principle of local self-government. After adoption by the Senate, it was sent to the National Assembly.
In parallel, the government is preparing its own proposal. Calling his predecessor’s bill “unfinished work”, in May 2026, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the government will draft its own legislation to combat all forms of “entryism and separatism”, which is expected to include many of the same elements. This follows the implementation of the 2022 “Separatism Law”, which broadened the sanctioning powers of administrative authorities over associations and has disproportionately affected minority rights and Muslim organisations.
Law Committee scrutinises public funding for migrants’ rights groups
In May 2026, French CSOs working on migrants’ rights reported receiving questionnaires and inquiries about their funding and activities from the National Assembly’s Law Committee. The requests follow the Law Committee’s December 2025 establishment of a fact-finding mission on the use of public funds by associations that work with and defend migrants, a sign of growing suspicion and scrutiny of these groups. The initiative is notably driven by the far right. The rapporteurs are Sophie Ricourt Vaginay of the far-right Union des droites pour la République (UDR) and Éric Martineau of the centrist Les Démocrates.
According to the questionnaire, the mission is examining public funds received by associations that provide legal assistance and support to asylum seekers and refugees, and whether their work complies with legal, regulatory and accounting requirements. The mission concluded with an information report and a plenary debate, without a binding vote. The report’s findings and narrative could influence future legislation or administrative practices on public funding for migrants’ rights CSOs, and could also lead to greater stigmatisation and reputational damage for the organisations under scrutiny, and the process itself places considerable bureaucratic pressure on associations to justify their existence, funding and operations.
The mission’s report was submitted on 30th September 2026, proposing 36 recommendations to strengthen oversight of public funding for migrant aid organisations. Ricourt Vaginay gave eight recommendations “in a personal capacity” proposing additional restrictions, including limiting local authority subsidies to the CSO SOS Méditerranée, reducing funding for accommodation centres that repeatedly exceed targets for stays by people no longer entitled to accommodation, restricting hotel stays and reserving emergency accommodation for people awaiting deportation. Martineau opposed restricting local funding for SOS Méditerranée, arguing that such contributions are vital to its humanitarian work.
Bill abolishing regional civil society councils struck down by Constitutional Council
A further legislative initiative affected CSOs’ operations and their role in decision-making. On 14th April 2026, two years after it was first introduced, the French parliament adopted a bill aimed at “simplifying economic life”, which included the abolition of the Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Councils (CESERs). The bodies, which bring together civil society actors, trade unions, employers and other stakeholders to advise on regional decision-making, have faced growing political pressure. Le Mouvement associatif warned that making CESERs optional would reduce organised civil society’s access to regional policymaking and erode participatory democracy in France. On 8th June 2026, however, the Constitutional Council struck down the provision as unconstitutional, ensuring that the CESERs remain in place.
Funding cuts and political attacks target critical civil society
Civil society organisations (CSOs) working on sexual health and rights in France have faced funding cuts and attacks from regional authorities and politicians. The most heavily targeted has been Planning Familial, which runs family planning centres and offers support and guidance on sexuality, contraception, abortion and tackling gender-based and sexual violence.
The Gironde chapter of Planning Familial was notified in June 2026 that the regional health agency would cut its annual funding by €160,000, reducing its operating budget by one third. The association has said it fears it could be forced to close. The authorities justified the cut by describing the organisation’s results as “inconclusive”. They have said they want to overhaul their policy in light of poor indicators on sexual health and gender-based violence.
The decision follows tensions in 2024, when the authorities had already threatened to cut funding over disagreements about the content of sexual education programmes in schools. Planning Familial says it is being blamed for poor indicators, while the state itself has failed to provide protection and education on sexual health and rights. The Carpentras chapter has also had its subsidies cut and has been attacked by the newly elected mayor from the far-right Rassemblement national party (RN). Planning Familial has condemned the growing number of political attacks on its local organisations and reiterated that freedom of association includes the right to advocate for their vision of society.
A similar case involves AREA, an association that has provided comprehensive social support to people living in slums in Montpellier for ten years. It announced that it would have to end its activities at the end of December 2025 after the government withdrew all of its funding. The withdrawal stemmed from opinions expressed in AREA’s reports and statements, which government departments viewed as too critical. In an email, the Departmental Directorate for Employment, Labour and Solidarity (DDETS) criticised the association for taking a critical stance towards institutions, which it said was “incompatible with state funding”. The end of funding forced AREA to close its operations and left nearly 400 people in precarious situations without support.
Environmental organisations targeted by vandalism and intimidation
Environmental organisations in France have continued to face intimidation and violence. In December 2025, members of Coordination Rurale (CR), a right-wing agricultural union that defends farmers’ interests, carried out a series of attacks on environmental associations and their volunteers and employees.
On 10th December 2025, CR members vandalised the premises of Nature Environnement 17 and the League for the Protection of Birds in Surgères. They damaged the premises, wrote insults on the walls and left a wild boar’s head as a form of intimidation.
Overnight on 17th-18th December, CR members also vandalised the premises of Vienne Nature, Poitou-Charentes Nature and France Nature Environnement Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the umbrella body for nature and environmental protection organisations in the region. Waste was dumped at the entrance gate, and CR Vienne claimed responsibility, making threatening comments about the associations, their volunteers and their employees.
The attacks came a month after the new CR leader, Bertrand Venteau, publicly called for the “killing of environmentalists” in November 2025. They follow earlier acts of intimidation and violence by CR activists against environmental groups and defenders.
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
Legislation expanding police powers draws criticism from rights groups
“Licence to kill” bill
On 7th July 2026, the French National Assembly adopted bill number 691, which establishes a presumption that police officers and gendarmes, members of France’s armed police force, use firearms lawfully unless other evidence suggests otherwise. The “presumption of self-defence” proposal, supported by the government, now goes to the Senate.
Critics say the law would significantly weaken the legal framework for investigating the police’s use of lethal force. They argue it would in practice reverse the starting point in criminal proceedings, shifting the burden onto victims and prosecutors, normalising lethal force and eroding criminal accountability.
Civil society groups have described the bill as a “licence to kill”. They have warned that it has serious rule of law shortcomings and risks undermining the right to life and access to justice. International human rights experts, lawyers’ unions and national human rights institutions, including the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights and the French Ombudsman, have voiced similar concerns.
The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions urged France to reject the bill, saying every death involving law enforcement must be subject to a prompt, effective and independent investigation. He warned that the legislation could foster impunity and weaken France’s compliance with its international human rights obligations.
Opposition to the bill has been widespread. A citizen petition calling for its withdrawal has passed the 500,000-signature threshold, gathering over 730,000 signatures.
RIPOST law
The RIPOST bill, an omnibus measure intended to provide “immediate responses” to public disorder and disruption, was definitively adopted by Parliament on 21st July 2026 and promulgated on 18th August. The law expands the use of fixed-amount criminal fines (AFD) for a variety of offences and provides for their automatic entry into the criminal record without judicial oversight or proceedings. The French Human Rights League (Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, LDH) has warned that this risks turning police into judges, creating an arbitrary system in which people face criminal sanctions at an officer’s discretion rather than through a fair legal process.
Article 2 of the law also increases penalties for organising disruptive events and parties, and criminalises participation in them. Critics say this threatens the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. The text provides for fines of €30,000 and two years’ imprisonment for organisers, and fines of €7,500 for participants. Cultural associations say the measure threatens France’s electronic music scene, which is built around spontaneous events and festivals.
The internet freedom group La Quadrature du Net has also warned that the law significantly expands police surveillance powers. The law extends algorithmic video surveillance until 2030 and broadens its use in public spaces. It also allows authorities to retain vehicle licence plate data for one year and to conduct certain identity checks and searches near borders without prior judicial authorisation, and expands the use of body cameras by private security agents. In addition, it permits emergency drone surveillance without prior prefectural authorisation, which the group says could limit public oversight and legal challenges.
La Quadrature du Net also condemned the removal of mandatory camera recordings in police custody cells, warning that this could deprive victims of police violence of crucial evidence. The group argued that these provisions reinforce mass surveillance and weaken safeguards against abuses of state power.
Environmental activists convicted over Sainte-Soline protest as Ombudsperson condemns policing
On 1st July 2026, an appeals court upheld the convictions of four environmental activists for organising a March 2023 protest against a mega-basin water reservoir project in Sainte-Soline, in the Deux-Sèvres department. Two members of the environmental movements Les Soulèvements de la Terre and Bassines Non Merci received suspended prison sentences of three and six months. Two organisers from the farmers’ union Confédération paysanne were each fined €800. The mobilisation against the project became a landmark moment for the environmental and climate justice movement in France.
The protest brought together an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people. Observers from the French Human Rights League (Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, LDH) documented widespread and disproportionate use of force by more than 3,000 gendarmes policing the demonstration, including the use of tear gas and explosive grenades. Hundreds of protesters were injured, and two people were left in a life-threatening coma. The observers said excessive force was also used against journalists, legal observers and medics, and that emergency medical assistance was delayed or obstructed.
The rulings come after a decision published on 8th July by France’s Ombudsperson (Défenseure des droits), which backed civil society claims and found serious misconduct in the policing of the protest. According to the report, officers used disproportionate and indiscriminate force and unlawful weapons, and obstructed access to medical assistance for injured protesters. It criticised the authorities for adopting a “logic of confrontation” and called for disciplinary proceedings against members of the gendarmerie.
Rights groups say the convictions illustrate a growing trend of using public order legislation against protesters and social movements, creating a chilling effect on the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Student protests spread across France over school conditions and education system
In September 2026, students at Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil, a working-class suburb south-east of central Paris, began a protest against school conditions they said had significantly hindered their learning. Their grievances included a chronic shortage of teachers, school nurses and social workers, infrastructure ill-equipped for the heatwaves of May and June 2026, classes of up to 40 pupils and an overloaded timetable. According to official data from France’s Education Ministry, around 9.8% of teaching hours were lost in high schools in the 2024/2025 school year, amounting to almost 20 million hours nationwide. Some 7.5% were lost because absent teachers were not replaced and 2.3% because schools were closed. Following a strike by their teachers on 17th September, a group of students staged a spontaneous blockade of the school the next day. Videos of their mobilisation attracted significant attention on social media, and another blockade protest on 21st September was visited by MPs from the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party.
By late September, the blockade at Lycée Saint-Exupéry was replicated by hundreds of students across the country, who joined the protest by piling up bins and barricading entrances at their own high schools and at public universities. Parents, teachers and trade unions backed the movement. Protesters also targeted Parcoursup, the university application platform. The slogan “supprimer Parcoursup” (“abolish Parcoursup”) has been repeated at multiple demonstrations, with students criticising the platform as discriminatory and ineffective. More than 126,000 applicants were still waiting for an offer in July of the 2025/2026 cycle. Outside school gates, cardboard signs expressed support for people in Gaza and opposition to far-right RN leader Marine Le Pen, who is widening her lead in polls ahead of the 2027 presidential election. On 6th October, the Interior Ministry counted 800 closed high schools nationwide.
Allegations of police infiltration of the movement have been met with humour. The phrase “Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres” (“In the name of God, it is darkness”) originated in a Snapchat message in which a user identified as “Mamadou” asked about upcoming protests, using racialised and stereotypical language. Students suspected the sender of being an undercover police officer. The phrase has since become an unofficial slogan of the movement, appearing on placards and in social media posts. Police have not commented on the claims.
After several weeks of school blockades and student mobilisation, a nationwide day of action took place on 13th October. The Interior Ministry put turnout at 161,500 people across France, while high-school organisations estimated 480,000. Around 41,500 people reportedly marched in Paris in what organisers called “Act V” of the movement. According to police authorities, 11,000 protesters took to the streets in Lyon, with another 4,000 mobilising in Bordeaux and 3,800 in Marseille. The national students’ union said 90% of French universities were blockaded or closed in solidarity on the day, while the Ministry of Education put the figure at 35%. Later that evening, police kettled protesters in Place Vauban in Paris and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
In response, Education Minister Édouard Geffray promised on 13th October that 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed to replace absent staff in the 114 worst-affected high schools. The national students’ union dismissed the measure as insufficient and demanded a €10 billion funding boost for high schools. The same day, the Occitanie region announced a “Plan Heatwave”, under which €10 million would be invested in more than 100 high schools to adapt them to rising temperatures.
Allegations of police violence and use of less-lethal weapons against minors: 36 investigations under way
The youth-led mobilisations have been met with significant violent repression from police authorities. Amnesty International has described the policing of the youth-led protests as disproportionate, particularly towards minors.
On 2nd October in Belfort, a 17-year-old student protesting at Lycée Gustave-Courbet accused a police commander, who also heads Belfort’s internal intelligence service, of holding his head under water while trying to handcuff him, in what the student described as an attempt to drown him. A video recorded by other students a few minutes later shows the officer being attacked and thrown to the ground by a group of young people, who then beat him. Two students were initially charged with attempted murder, but the charge was changed to aggravated violence after investigators reportedly found insufficient evidence. The Belfort public prosecutor described the incident as a “lynching” of the officer. One of the arrested students has filed complaints of attempted murder against the officer and of “complicity by instigation” against Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
On 5th October, a police SUV drove into a crowd of young protesters in the northern city of Dunkirk. The same day in Lens, a 15-year-old boy’s hand was blown off by a police stun grenade during a protest.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez subsequently asked for a halt to the use of stun grenades pending clarification of the incident. Speaking in parliament on 6th October, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended the police response to what he called “urban violence”. He said “accidents” could happen, and that the students “behave like thugs”. He added: “We have forgotten that they are secondary school pupils; they are quite simply thugs, delinquents. And the internal security forces are doing a remarkable job in arresting them.”
By 8th October, more than 6,000 students had been taken into police custody, about 80% of them minors. On 1st October alone, a record 1,949 arrests were made, 90% of them minors.
Teachers and others supporting the student protesters were also targeted and suffered injuries. Video footage showed teachers forming human chains to protect students against police intervention. By 13th October, the Education Ministry reported that 147 teaching staff had been injured since the start of the protests. On 6th October, a video that went viral showed Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of Saint-Denis and a member of La France insoumise (LFI), standing in front of police officers to shield young protesters, whom he said could be his own children. He was heard repeatedly calling for calm and for police to stop. Police then tear-gassed the group, including the mayor. Previously on 1st October in Orléans, Jonathan Brubeau, a city councillor from the Parti communiste français (PCF), had also tried to intervene on the students’ behalf and calm the situation during student protests. Video footage of the incident shows police officers insulted him, threw him to the ground and hit him with a baton.
By 13th October, 36 investigations had been opened by the Inspection générale de la police nationale (IGPN), the police oversight body, into violence against student protesters since the movement began. Four involved “disabling injuries”. One of the investigations concerns alleged aggravated assault by a police officer, after a high-school student was blinded in one eye on 30th September during a protest at his school in Tours. According to Tours public prosecutor Catherine Sorita-Minard, forensic examinations found the eye injuries were “consistent with the impact of an LBD-type defence bullet”. Further investigation found that “two LBD bullets had been fired a minute after each other by two police officers”.
Another case concerns a 14-year-old boy who suffered severe mouth and jaw injuries after three police officers allegedly beat him during a protest outside his school, Lycée Château d’Épluches in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, in the Val-d’Oise department.
International observers called on authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly. UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly Gina Romero expressed concern about the situation and called on French authorities to ensure protesters’ safety. Amnesty International urged French authorities to de-escalate tensions, protect children from arbitrary detention, and immediately suspend the use of rubber-bullet launchers and explosive stun grenades against student demonstrators. Human Rights Watch criticised the pattern of excessive force by French police and called on authorities to “stop treating peacefully protesting children as a danger that needs to be neutralised”.
“Yellow and Youth” protests draw hundreds of thousands on 17th October, followed by fringe riots
After weeks of student protests, around 800,000 people took to the streets across France on 17th October, according to organisers, in response to a call circulated mainly on social media over the rising cost of living. The Interior Ministry put the figure at 550,000. The Saturday demonstrations, billed as “yellow and youth” protests, sought to create a “convergence of struggles” by uniting the Gilets jaunes (Yellow Vest) movement, which protested against President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policy eight years ago, with high-school students demanding urgent economic and social reform. Organisers set up a website mapping more than 600 demonstrations planned across France that weekend, as well as hundreds of “direct actions” such as blockades of motorway toll booths, train stations and service stations. Social media played a key role in rallying support, with the youth-led movement labelled “Gilets jeunes” (“Young Vests”), a nod to the 2018 protests.
A few hours into the demonstrations, in which students, farmers, teachers and trade unionists marched through Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Rennes, fringe rioters vandalised and looted shops, torched cars and bikes, smashed street furniture and damaged government buildings. Groups broke into the city halls of Lille, in the north, and Marseille, in the south, using a metal fence as a battering ram. Arson attacks destroyed a tourist office in Lyon and part of the facade of Limoges’ 143-year-old city hall. The 34-year-old suspected of the Limoges arson is reportedly on national security watchlists for violence against public officials.
Alexandre Bompard, head of the French federation of commerce and distribution, said 1,500 shops were damaged or looted nationwide. The Paris police prefecture attributed the looting to “the massive arrival of individuals whose sole objective was to commit theft and looting, taking advantage of the disorder to act”. By the end of the weekend, more than 800 people had been arrested in Paris and over 2,000 placed in police custody nationwide, nearly 70% of them adults. About 150 police officers were reportedly injured. As of 20th October, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 149 people had been jailed and 800 others referred to prosecutors, 300 of them in Paris, for immediate trial.
In a televised address on 18th October, Macron condemned those who “sought to bring down the Republic” and vowed to track them down. He distinguished between protesters with “legitimate demands” and “factious groups from the far left, joined by numerous delinquents” who took part in the destruction. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation on 19th October. Macron rejected it, citing “the necessity for continued leadership of law enforcement at this time” and calling for a new approach to maintaining order “in the face of rioters”. Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun said on X on 19th October that housing benefits would be suspended for those convicted of looting, writing: “Rioters, looters, thieves: your social benefits are gone!”
Rassemblement National (RN) leader Marine Le Pen accused the far left and La France insoumise (LFI) leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon of “hijacking legitimate social demands”, “legitimising violence” and using student demonstrations as an electoral strategy for the 2027 presidential election. Mélenchon, who did not condemn the unrest, denounced “a rotten situation” that he said had led to the riots. He and his party maintained their criticism of what they called excessive police force against protesters.
On 19th October, the investigative outlet Mediapart published an article citing sources within the French intelligence services who said they had been specifically ordered, when preparing a report on the 17th October protests and riots, to name the “far left” and LFI as having mobilised young people to loot and set fires. LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard announced that the party would bring a case against the Interior Ministry before the Cour de justice de la République, saying: “Since Saturday, we have been witnessing an incredible display of manipulation which… amounts to a state scandal.”
Media watchdog European Digital Media Observatory warned that a network of far-right social media accounts had exploited and amplified disinformation surrounding the protests to spread xenophobic and racist narratives. US Vice President JD Vance, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used images of the unrest to claim that migrants and “extremist Islam” had “taken over France”. On 21st October, speaking during a state visit to Qatar, Macron rejected the anti-migration rhetoric and accused the foreign leaders of “not loving France”. He said that, without naming them, “these people” irritated him.
The European Commission announced on 19th October that it would work closely with France’s media regulator, Arcom, to regulate social media platforms and reduce the risk of incitement to violence. Resale platforms including Vinted, Amazon and eBay said they would cooperate with police to identify, flag and remove stolen goods.
Protests continued on 20th October, when around 400 high-school and university students marched in Rennes despite a police ban on public gatherings. Police kettled the protesters, fired tear gas and searched their belongings.
Fresh calls were issued for a mass protest on 24th October. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu vowed a “massive” police presence and said he was prepared to impose a state of emergency “if needed”. Nuñez announced the deployment of the army that day to protect government buildings so that police could focus on maintaining public order.
French digital outlet Blast reported that, in the days ahead of the planned mobilisation, Lecornu had asked French telecom operators to prepare to block access to TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X during protests. The government also considered restricting mobile internet in specific areas and disabling geolocation features. However, operators warned that targeted social media blocking was not technically possible, while cutting mobile internet would disrupt essential services, including mobile payments, security systems and emergency communications.
The European Union warned against conflating peaceful demonstrators with those committing violence. It urged France to protect the right to protest, while stating that “arson, looting and attacks on people or public buildings are unacceptable”. In a statement on 20th October, UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned those who “exploited protests to commit acts of violence and vandalism against public and private property” in Albania, Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal.
Curfews imposed in major cities, far-right march permitted to take place
On 19th October, curfews were declared in the centres of Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Lille, as well as in smaller cities. In Paris, the curfew ran from 11pm to 6am in two areas, Place de la République and the Les Halles shopping district. A police helicopter patrolled Place de la République overnight to monitor compliance, and Paris police temporarily banned the carrying of cans or bottles of petrol or gas.
In Lyon, the curfew ran from 9pm to 6am in the city centre until 22nd October. In Marseille, unaccompanied minors were barred from the streets from 10pm to 5am until 23rd October. In Bordeaux, a similar curfew for unaccompanied minors ran from 10pm to 7am until 26th October. Police reported no major incidents in Paris on the nights of 19th and 20th October and said the curfews would remain for “as long as necessary”. Centre-left and left opposition parties, including LFI, Les Écologistes, Parti Socialiste (PS) and the Parti communiste français (PCF) criticised the measures, calling on the government to provide a political solution by addressing protesters’ demands. LFI MP Manuel Bompard described the curfews as a form of “collective punishment.”
On 19th October, a few hours into the curfew in Lyon, a far-right group marched through the city centre in breach of the restrictions. Around 200 people in ski masks and black clothing, some displaying neo-Nazi symbols, took part in the undeclared march, which they said was in solidarity with shopkeepers affected by the looting of 17th October. Police later dispersed them. Participants chanted slogans including “the thug in prison, free the city of Lyon”, “Islam, out of Europe” and “the streets, France are ours”. At the head of the march, a French flag bearing a Celtic cross was displayed, a symbol commonly used by white supremacist, neo-fascist and nationalist movements.
Protest bans, racist shooting and far-right clashes mark week of unrest in France
On 22nd October, President Emmanuel Macron announced that demonstrations organised by groups without “legitimate authority” would be banned, while authorised protests could face restrictions on their planned routes. Authorities banned mobilisations scheduled for 24th October in central Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Toulon. Paris permitted one march but barred it from the city centre, and prohibited a separate student and Yellow Vest demonstration. Protests planned in Grenoble, Rouen, Le Havre and Toulon on Thursday were also halted.
On 23rd October, a gunman carried out a racially motivated shooting spree in Trappes and La Verrière, two neighbouring communes west of Paris. Firing from a car at several locations, including a petrol station, a medical centre and a children’s playground, he killed one man and injured seven other people, among them a 12-year-old girl. According to Le Monde, the suspect said he had acted in response to the unrest of 17th October and the looting and vandalism of shops. On his arrest, he said he had “avenged the shopkeepers” by targeting “Black people and Arabs”.
On 24th October, hundreds of thousands of people took part in renewed demonstrations across France. The Interior Ministry put turnout at 410,000, while trade unions estimated around 800,000, including about 110,000 in Paris. Authorities deployed some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes. According to media reports, daytime marches were largely peaceful, but clashes broke out in several cities in the evening. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters, and authorities reported more than 1,300 arrests nationwide.
Violent far-right groups also used the demonstrations to march through several cities and attacked protesters in Nice, Rouen and Montpellier, among other places, Le Monde reported. The newspaper said far-right identitarian and nationalist activists had exploited the violence and looting of 17th October on social media, with some urging people to defend local shopkeepers while spreading racist rhetoric. In Nice, the revolutionary nationalist group Aquila Popularis, whose members include former members of the neo-Nazi group Les Zoulous Nice, had distributed flyers offering shopkeepers its “help” and saying the state had failed them. The same flyer was shared on a Telegram channel with 2,600 subscribers run by Megamachina, another prominent group on the scene. According to media reports, police have been accused of tolerating or even collaborating with the far-right groups who perpetrated the attacks.
On the afternoon of 24th October, around 100 masked activists stormed the march in Nice in what Le Monde described as an extremely violent ambush that left several people injured. The prosecutor’s office said 11 people suspected of belonging to the far right had been arrested, and that some were carrying masks, gloves, pepper spray and batons. In Montpellier, videos showed police arresting a demonstrator who had been beaten by three suspected far-right activists, while allowing the attackers to retreat behind police lines. Similar footage from Dijon and Nancy showed far-right groups throwing projectiles at protesters while police officers looked on before dispersing demonstrators with tear gas. In Rouen, far-right activists reportedly attacked protesters with iron bars, bats and other objects, while police pushed back demonstrators and checked their identities but did not initially detain the alleged attackers.
In Orléans, thousands of people marched on 24th October, chanting anti-fascist slogans against a two-day congress of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), led by Marine Le Pen. The congress, which coincided with the nationwide cost-of-living protests, was held under heavy police surveillance. On 24th October, RN activists confronted a Mediapart film crew, which was then forcibly removed by party security staff. On 25th October, plainclothes police and security personnel roughly removed activists from a protest organised by the Union of Jewish Students in France, along with journalists from Mediapart and Politis who were filming. Several women journalists also reported intrusive pat-downs by security staff. On 27th October, major French media outlets condemned the treatment and called on the RN to allow journalists to report freely from political events without obstruction or intimidation.
French Senate passes “Rioters Pay” bill despite criticism from rights groups
On 28th October 2026, the French Senate approved by 229 votes to 105 an expanded version of the “Rioters Pay” bill, which has been strongly criticised by the opposition and rights groups. The bill would allow authorities to hold people financially liable for damage, theft or violence committed during public gatherings they knowingly attended, even if they did not personally cause it. Individuals could face compensation claims of up to €10,000, and social benefits could be seized to recover payments. Parents could be held civilly liable for acts committed by their children, and the bill would widen the grounds for expelling foreign nationals convicted of certain serious offences during demonstrations.
The government announced the bill in the summer of 2026 after violence and property damage during the UEFA Champions League final in May, when Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal. Authorities later put it on the parliamentary agenda under an accelerated procedure following the student protests in autumn. The text now goes to the National Assembly for debate and a vote.
The bill introduces joint financial liability for anyone found to have “knowingly participated” in a group formed to carry out acts of vandalism. It would also apply to people who “voluntarily” remained in a gathering likely to disrupt public order after two police dispersal warnings. Welfare and housing benefits could be seized to cover the cost of damage. In the expanded version, senators added other benefits to the list, including the family supplement, the back-to-school allowance and the employment bonus. The government has also proposed protest bans targeting the most violent individuals.
Amnesty International had urged lawmakers to reject the bill, warning that it could deter people from exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. The organisation argued that collective liability risks arbitrary punishment and conflicts with France’s international obligations, which require individual responsibility to rest on evidence of personal culpability. Nathalie Godard of Amnesty International France warned that seizing benefits could have “disastrous consequences” for vulnerable families. Amnesty also said the expanded expulsion provisions risk fuelling xenophobia and must comply with the ban on returning people to places where they face persecution or human rights violations.
Freedom of Expression
Antisemitism bill withdrawn amid free speech concerns, but amended version planned
In January 2026, the French National Assembly’s Law Committee approved a controversial bill aimed at combating “renewed forms of antisemitism”. The bill, known as the “Yadan Law” after MP Caroline Yadan, who introduced it, sought to broaden the offence of glorifying terrorism, ban slogans used during Palestine solidarity protests and create a new offence criminalising criticism of the state of Israel.
The proposal relied on the definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which experts warn has been used to wrongly label criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Critics said the bill risked being used to suppress solidarity with the Palestinian people and public criticism of Israeli state policies, undermining both freedom of expression and the fight against antisemitism, and posed a significant risk of censorship. They also warned that the work of civil society groups, journalists and academics could be stifled.
According to legal experts, the bill conflated legitimate, democratic criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism. It had the government’s support and was placed on a fast-track legislative procedure, in line with similar approaches in countries such as Denmark and Italy.
On 16th April, one day before it was due to be debated in the National Assembly, the Ensemble pour la République group announced that it was withdrawing the bill. The decision followed widespread public opposition and the withdrawal of support from parts of the political centre. A petition urging parliamentarians to reject the proposal gathered more than 700,000 signatures on the National Assembly’s website.
In June 2026, Aurore Bergé, the minister in charge of gender equality and anti-discrimination, announced that a draft law against antisemitism and racism, which succeeds the Yadan bill and incorporates some of its provisions, had been submitted to the Council of Ministers.
The draft law would extend the grounds for mandatory ineligibility (ban on standing in elections) for certain offences as well as strengthen penalties for hate speech, including allowing criminal liability for legal entities. The bill would also empower the anti-cybercrime office to order publishers and hosting providers to remove certain content within 24 hours. Non-compliance could lead to penalties and the blocking or delisting of websites. Critics warn that the broad criteria for determining illegal content could threaten freedom of expression and enable arbitrary enforcement. The draft law was submitted to the Senate on 9th July 2026.
Investigative outlet reveals widespread use of illegal facial recognition by police
In March 2026, the non-profit investigative outlet Disclose reported that police officers and gendarmes were using facial recognition software on their work phones to identify people during identity checks, although the practice is prohibited outside criminal investigations. Available on police devices since 2022, the technology connects to the Criminal Records Processing database (TAJ), which holds personal information and up to nine million photographs.
Disclose gathered testimony from six men who were photographed and identified by police between 2021 and 2025, including during demonstrations and street checks. According to the investigation, officers can use the tool without individual authorisation, despite legal requirements governing its use. The Interior Ministry has reportedly been aware of the misuse for at least three years but declined to answer questions about oversight. Consultations of the database rose from 375,000 in 2019 to nearly one million in 2024.
A follow-up investigation by Disclose and France 2 in July found that the practice had continued after Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez publicly declared it illegal in April 2026. Officers told the outlets that pressure to meet targets for fixed-penalty fines encouraged the use of facial recognition during identity checks, which they said disproportionately affected people of colour, immigrants and political activists.
The investigation also documented cases of mistaken identity, including that of an environmental activist who spent more than 100 hours in detention after being wrongly identified through facial recognition. The court later dismissed the case against him and his co-defendants, citing unfair identification methods. France’s data protection authority (CNIL) confirmed that its investigation into the use of facial recognition on police phones was ongoing.
Parliamentary inquiry fuels far-right attacks on public broadcasters, recommends €1 billion cut
In spring 2026, a parliamentary inquiry into public broadcasting became a platform for far-right attacks on public media, raising concerns about falling public trust and plans to privatise the sector.
The inquiry was led by Charles Alloncle, an MP from the far-right Union des droites pour la République (UDR), a party aligned with the Rassemblement National (RN). Its hearings with journalists, presenters and senior executives were often confrontational, with Alloncle using selective examples of spending to portray public broadcasters as wasteful and undermine their legitimacy, and accused them of left-wing bias.
The inquiry also received extensive coverage from outlets owned by the conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, whose businesses could benefit from privatisation. The inquiry’s chair, the centrist MP Jérémie Patrier-Leitus, accused Bolloré’s media group of circulating suggested questions that reflected a hostile stance towards public broadcasters.
RN representatives have acknowledged that the inquiry serves the party’s political agenda. The party has pledged to privatise public broadcasting if it wins power in the 2027 elections.
The inquiry’s final report, published on 5th May 2026, made 69 recommendations. These included cutting public broadcasting budgets by €1 billion, abolishing several television and radio channels, and merging France 2 with France 5 and France 24 with France Info. Public broadcasting executives, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Patrier-Leitus criticised the recommendations as politically motivated and impractical. Patrier-Leitus accused Alloncle of using the inquiry to weaken public broadcasting ahead of possible privatisation.
Press freedom watchdog reports over 100 incidents since the start of 2026
The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) monitoring platform recorded more than 100 press freedom violations in France between January and October 2026, including at least 30 physical attacks on journalists and media workers.
On 31st January, Mickaël Nassieu-Maupas, a journalist for the local outlet L’Ardennais, was verbally and physically attacked while reporting on the sidelines of a football match in Sedan, in the Ardennes. Around ten people threatened him verbally, and three of them assaulted him. On 1st May, photojournalist Anna Margueritat was subjected to police violence while covering the International Workers’ Day demonstration. She lost consciousness during a police charge and was reportedly struck several times while on the ground. Shortly beforehand, an officer had pulled her by her helmet, and the strap choked her until she removed it. On 30th May, freelance journalist Enzo Rabouy was hit on the head with a baton by a police officer while filming celebrations that turned violent after Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final victory. On 5th August, a journalist from the regional newspaper Nice-Matin was physically assaulted by Ugo Massi, a farmer and Rassemblement National (RN) municipal councillor in Cagnes-sur-Mer. According to Nice-Matin, Massi pushed her to the ground and snatched her phone.
Numerous journalists were attacked or injured while covering student protests that began in late September. According to MFRR, law enforcement was responsible for most of the recorded attacks. On 2nd October, Valentin Levetti, founder and publishing director of the independent online outlet stup.media, was struck by an officer on a motorcycle while trying to film the violent arrest of a young protester. On 6th October in Montpellier, freelance photojournalist Frédéric Munsch was caught in tear gas and reportedly had to seek medical treatment. The same day, Samuel Clauzier, who works for several outlets including Rue89 Bordeaux, was assaulted three times by riot police (CRS) while covering a national high school student protest in Montpellier. Despite wearing visible press identification, he was struck in the chest with a shield and had his phone hit with a baton. He was later struck in the back during a police charge and fell headfirst, injuring his knee, ribs and elbow.
On 8th October, freelance photographer Patrick Wack, working for The Wall Street Journal, was reportedly hit at point-blank range by a round from a defensive ball launcher (LBD) while covering a protest in Paris. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said he was injured in the ear and needed stitches that evening. On 17th October, three more journalists were targeted at protests. Freelance photojournalist Ricardo Parreira was reportedly hit in the leg by an LBD round fired by law enforcement in Montpellier. Mathias Enthoven, journalist and co-founder of the online outlet Blast, was injured by a dispersal grenade reportedly thrown by law enforcement at a protest on Place de la République in Paris. In Lyon, an officer pressed an LBD against the chest of Adrien Pittore, a journalist and photographer for the photo agency Sipa Press, and then aimed it at his face.
Journalists were also attacked by individuals. On 29th September, two journalists from the private news channel BFMTV were insulted and reportedly physically assaulted while reporting on a student blockade at the Paul Éluard high school in Saint-Denis, near Paris. No injuries were reported, and BFMTV said it had filed a complaint. On 1st October, a journalist from the private channel M6 was reportedly assaulted while covering a blockade at the Saint-Exupéry high school in Marseille’s 15th arrondissement. On 17th October, freelance journalist Emma Audrey was assaulted by a man who tried to destroy her camera while she covered protests in Paris. She suffered a wrist injury, and her camera was rendered unusable.
Reporters also faced legal action and investigations. On 8th July, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered the reopening of an investigation into Disclose journalist Ariane Lavrilleux over the 2021 “Egypt Papers” reporting. The reporting exposed a secret French military operation in Egypt that Egyptian authorities allegedly used to target civilians. The court also ordered the questioning of four co-authors, including Disclose co-founder and editor-in-chief Mathias Destal. It rejected the public prosecutor’s request to remove the published articles and a related France 2 documentary. In October 2025, an investigating judge had dismissed all charges against Lavrilleux, ruling that the reporting served the public interest. The prosecutor appealed in May 2026. Lavrilleux spent 39 hours in police custody in 2023, and her home was searched.
On 17th June, Frédéric Farine, a journalist with the investigative outlet Guyaweb, and its publishing director, Katia Leï-Sam Cléry, were questioned and held in custody for eight and a half hours by gendarmes in Cayenne, French Guiana. The case concerns a March 2024 article identifying a deputy prosecutor who had left the territory after receiving threats. The journalists face allegations of disclosing information that could endanger a public official. The National Union of Journalists (SNJ) and the Union of Independent Online News Publishers (SPIIL) condemned the questioning, warning that it threatened press freedom.
Politicians were also responsible for threats and legal pressure. On 20th March, Thierry Meignen, a senator and former mayor of Le Blanc-Mesnil, threatened investigative journalist Nassira El Moaddem with death and a defamation lawsuit after she published a book examining alleged corruption, nepotism and harassment in the town hall under his associates. In an interview with Le Monde, Meignen said: “I’m going to sue her for defamation. I’m going to beat her up. I’ll go all the way, she will die, I’ll kill her.” She and her publisher have filed a complaint against Meignen. On 18th July, Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council, announced a defamation complaint against Nice-Matin, seeking €2 million in damages for allegedly spreading false information. He also threatened legal action against other media outlets, seeking €1 million from each, without specifying which reports he was challenging.
On 1st October, Jordan Bardella, leader of the Rassemblement National (RN), announced a complaint for forgery and use of forged documents against the investigative outlet Mediapart, in addition to an existing defamation lawsuit. The action followed a 28th September investigation alleging that Bardella made antisemitic remarks between 2013 and 2015. Bardella denied the allegations and accused Mediapart of running a smear campaign and publishing manipulated evidence. Mediapart condemned the legal action and the hostile rhetoric, warning of pressure on press freedom and the public’s right to information. Marine Le Pen also threatened the outlet, saying it was “waging all-out war” and telling its journalists to “wear Kevlar suits”.
Elected officials and others also used hostile rhetoric against the press. On 10th January, Christian Poiret, president of the Nord Departmental Council, urged people to “get rid of the press” at a public reception. Stéphanie Zorn, editor-in-chief of La Voix du Nord, condemned the remarks as a sign of growing intolerance among elected officials towards democratic scrutiny. On 17th January, Edgar Moulin, mayor of Saint-Ellier-les-Bois, sent a threatening message to the Alençon office of Ouest-France, targeting journalist Louis Roche over his conduct at a public event. The newspaper had previously reported on Moulin’s indictment for alleged sexual offences. On 19th February, Laurent Jacobelli, an RN MP, publicly attacked France Inter video journalist Manon Mella, questioning her professionalism and suggesting she should be dismissed. On 24th September, Christophe Barthès, mayor of Carcassonne and an RN member, publicly attacked the La Dépêche du Midi group and its regional dailies L’Indépendant and Midi Libre as “rags pretending to be newspapers” and “far-left fake news clowns” during a city council meeting broadcast live on YouTube. He also boasted of having taken away funding from the group by cancelling the municipality’s contract with them. The attacks followed the newspapers’ reporting on municipal police officers recorded making racist remarks.
Attempts at censorship were also recorded. On 27th May, France 24 journalists Nina Masson and Yong Chim were intimidated in a Paris hotel after an actor’s interview touched on opposition to billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s influence over French cinema. The actor’s press officers demanded the footage and pressured the journalists into signing a commitment not to broadcast the passage. On 20th August, the municipality of Deauville removed a photograph by the Palestinian photojournalist Jehad Alshrafi from its Sport Images Festival, saying it wished to “not offend anyone”. The image showed a football match in Gaza against a backdrop of destroyed buildings. On 31st August, an administrative court suspended the decision, ruling that the removal was neither necessary nor proportionate to preserve public order.