The French government intends to block social media that, upon the request of the authorities, do not remove posts containing calls for rebellion and violence. This is reported by Le Figaro, citing an amendment to the bill on combating riots, which has already been submitted to parliament for consideration.

According to the initiative, Internet platforms will be obliged to remove, within a maximum of one hour, materials containing calls for terrorism, rebellion, or armed struggle against the French state and individual groups of the French population. In case of failure to comply with this requirement, the French authorities will block these social media or demand that they be removed from search engine results.

The new amendment provides also for expanding the powers of the French state platform “Pharos,” which detects illegal content on the Internet. Social media are being asked to give 24 hours to remove posts that call for murder, violence, theft, and destruction of property.

The initiative was prepared after the mass unrest in France that accompanied the protests on October 17. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Marseille, stated that social media were used to coordinate actions and gather participants at the sites of attacks and looting in France.