France has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Under Art. 11 of the Act related to the fight against the manipulation of information, platform operators have to implement measures to fight against the spread of false information that may disrupt public order or affect general elections. To this end, they have to provide a complaint mechanism and are invited to establish complementary voluntary measures such as blocking accounts that massively spread disinformation and increasing transparency over their algorithms and the sources of information.

According to Art. L851-3, telecommunication providers can be required to automatically analyse connection data in their networks to detect terrorist threats.

In May 2024, during a state of emergency, French authorities imposed a temporary suspension of TikTok in New Caledonia, citing risks to public order amid civil unrest. The measure, implemented from 15 to 29 May, was carried out via the territory’s sole internet provider and marked the first instance of France blocking access to a social media platform. The action raised significant concerns regarding compliance with legal standards of necessity and proportionality, particularly given the absence of judicial oversight or formal regulatory procedure.

Under Arts. L-111-1 and L-111-2 of the Heritage Code, public archives that are kept because of scientific interest or ongoing administrative utility are national treasures. As such, they must be stored on French territory, even in electronic form.

According to the Art. L102 C of the Tax Procedures Handbook, if invoices are sent in electronic form, taxable persons may not store invoices in a country not linked to France by an agreement providing for mutual assistance or not providing immediate online access rights, downloading and use of the whole of the data concerned. Taxable persons are obliged to declare the place of storage of their invoices and any modification of that place where it is located outside France.

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a comprehensive framework for data protection that applies to all EU Member States. The Act No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978 on Data Processing, Data Files and Individual Liberties was amended in June 2018 to implement the GDPR.

Under the EU Directive on Data Retention, operators were required to retain certain categories of traffic and location data (excluding the content of those communications) for a period between six months and two years and to make them available, on request, to law enforcement authorities for the purposes of investigating, detecting and prosecuting serious crime and terrorism. On 8 April 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared the Directive invalid. However, not all national laws that implemented the Directive have been overturned.
France implemented the Directive with Decree No. 2006-358, Relating to the conservation of electronic communication data. In 2021, the Conseil d'Etat upheld the law despite the CJEU ruling, arguing that it remained compatible as it was necessary to safeguard national security.

Under Art. L34-1 of the Postal and Electronic Communications Code, telecommunication service providers have to keep personal data like the name and address of consumers for simple law enforcement purposes, as well as users' payment information and other information. For the purpose of fighting grave crime, as well as national security and public security threats, providers can be obliged to keep data on the source and destination of communications as well as data on the devices used. In cases where there is a grave threat to national security, currently or in the immediate future, the Prime Minister can enjoin providers to keep other data, including location data.

According to Art. L851-1 of the Internal Security Code, the Prime Minister can authorise the collection of connection data and other technical data for law enforcement purposes without a court order. Furthermore, under Art. L851-2, in exceptional cases, real-time online surveillance of individuals connected to a terror suspect can be authorised. The maximum number of authorisations for this is determined by the Prime Minister.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
The E-Commerce Directive was transposed into French law by Law No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004. According to this law, the hosting provider is liable for the stored contents only if (i) he was actually aware of the illicit character of the content or if (ii) he did not delete the illicit content or did not forbid access to such content promptly after becoming aware of its illicit character.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
The E-Commerce Directive was transposed into French law by Law No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004. According to this law, the hosting provider is liable for the stored contents only if (i) he was actually aware of the illicit character of the content or if (ii) he did not delete the illicit content or did not forbid access to such content promptly after becoming aware of its illicit character.

It is reported that France imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

According to the Postal and Electronic Communications Code, passive infrastructure sharing is mandated in France (Art. 47-49). The operators of networks open to the public can occupy the public road domain by setting up works there insofar as this occupation is not incompatible with its assignment. In addition, co-location is not required but is strongly encouraged by the Postal and Electronic Communications Code. Passive access to optical local loops is regulated by the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques, des Postes et de la Distribution de la Presse (Arcep) in a symmetrical manner. On copper, an asymmetric regulation applies to Orange on passive and active access.
In addition, Directive 2014/61/EU (Art. 3.2) establishes that Member States shall ensure that, upon written request of an undertaking providing or authorised to provide public communications networks, any network operator must meet all reasonable requests for access to its physical infrastructure under fair and reasonable terms and conditions, including price, with a view to deploying elements of high-speed electronic communications networks. Such written request shall specify the elements of the project for which the access is requested, including a specific time frame.

It is reported that the French State owns 23.04% of Orange SA's share capital. Orange is a major player in the French telecommunications market and is one of the largest telecommunications operators in the world.