Anne Le Hénanff, France's Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, declared that virtual private networks (VPNs) are "the next subject on my list" following the government's controversial ban on social media access for users under 15 years old.
The announcement, delivered on France Info radio, signals an unprecedented escalation in state digital surveillance that has alarmed civil liberties advocates across the Republic and throughout Europe.
"This is only the beginning," Le Hénanff stated during Friday's political interview program. "VPNs, that's the next topic on my list. The social media ban for minors represents a first step in what France understands as refondation numérique—a digital refoundation necessary for protecting our children and our sovereignty."
In France, as throughout the Republic, politics remains inseparable from philosophy, culture, and the eternal question of what France represents. Le Hénanff's VPN proposal emerges from a distinctly French tradition of state intervention in the public sphere, updated for the digital age with rhetoric invoking both child protection and technological sovereignty.
The minister's position reflects longstanding French thinking about the role of the state in regulating public space, dating to the Revolutionary concept of l'espace public and continuing through contemporary debates about laïcité and digital platforms. What European neighbors view as personal freedom, French republican philosophy has historically framed as a question of collective order.
Technical and Legal Challenges
Digital rights organizations immediately questioned the technical feasibility and legal authority for such restrictions. Arthur Messaud, legal director of La Quadrature du Net, France's leading digital rights organization, called the proposal "technologically unworkable and constitutionally suspect."
"VPNs serve essential functions beyond circumventing geographic restrictions," Messaud explained to Libération. "Journalists, whistleblowers, businesses, and ordinary citizens protecting their privacy all rely on encrypted connections. A blanket ban would undermine digital security for everyone."
The technical obstacles to enforcing a VPN prohibition are formidable. Unlike China's Great Firewall, which benefits from centralized internet infrastructure and comprehensive packet inspection, France's internet operates through decentralized European networks where identifying and blocking VPN traffic presents extraordinary challenges.
Moreover, any attempt to restrict VPNs would likely conflict with European Union regulations on digital services and privacy rights. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) explicitly protects citizens' rights to secure their personal data, and many privacy advocates argue that VPNs constitute essential tools for exercising those rights.
Political Philosophy and Digital Sovereignty
Le Hénanff's proposal reflects a broader French ambition to assert digital sovereignty against what Paris perceives as American technological hegemony. The minister framed VPN restrictions within this larger geopolitical context, arguing that unregulated encryption technologies enable foreign surveillance and undermine French state authority.
This vision combines Gaullist independence with contemporary anxieties about technological dependency. France has long sought to position itself as Europe's intellectual leader on digital regulation, from pioneering right-to-be-forgotten legislation to championing the Digital Services Act.
Yet the VPN proposal marks a concerning departure from France's historical role as a defender of Enlightenment values. Emmanuel Macron has frequently invoked French republican principles in advocating for stricter platform regulation, but targeting the encryption tools that enable secure communication represents a fundamental challenge to privacy rights that even authoritarian-leaning European governments have hesitated to pursue so explicitly.
Domestic Opposition Emerges
Reactions split along familiar French political lines, though with unexpected coalitions. Left-wing parties denounced the proposal as authoritarian overreach, with La France Insoumise deputy Sophia Chikirou calling it "a dangerous step toward Chinese-style digital control masquerading as child protection."
Right-wing opposition questioned the competence of implementation rather than the principle. Éric Ciotti, president of the conservative Republicans, suggested the government lacked the technical capability to enforce such restrictions while allowing VPN access for legitimate business purposes.
Tech industry representatives warned of economic consequences. France's burgeoning cybersecurity sector relies heavily on VPN technology, and restrictions could drive talent and investment to more permissive European jurisdictions like Ireland or the Netherlands.
European Context and Precedents
France would not be the first to attempt VPN restrictions—Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey have all implemented various degrees of VPN blocking—but would be the first liberal democracy to pursue comprehensive prohibition. The United Kingdom considered similar measures during debates over the Online Safety Act but ultimately stepped back from outright bans.
The European Commission has not yet commented on Le Hénanff's announcement, but EU officials privately expressed concern about potential conflicts with digital single market principles. Any French VPN restriction would likely face immediate legal challenges in European courts.
For now, the minister's statement represents political signaling rather than concrete policy. No draft legislation has been introduced, and technical details remain entirely unspecified. Yet the willingness of a senior French official to publicly advocate for such restrictions marks a troubling shift in how European democracies approach the balance between security and liberty in digital spaces.
In France, as throughout the Republic, politics remains inseparable from philosophy, culture, and the eternal question of what France represents. Whether that representation now includes restrictions on encrypted communications will test the limits of French republican principles in the digital age.
