WORLDTECHFrench lawmakers approve data levy on content providers, pending further scrutiny
French lawmakers have backed an amendment that would levy a per-gigabyte charge on content reaching French internet users, a measure its backers estimate could bring in €10 billion a year from major content providers. The proposal must still clear further parliamentary scrutiny, and the report comes from a single outlet.
What the amendment would do
Minutes released by the National Assembly show that deputies voted 11-10 for the motion on October 30, placing the measure in the country's next budget even though the government benches and the finance committee rapporteur opposed it. Socialist lawmaker Laurent Lhardit tabled the amendment, which would require content providers to hand the state €0.55, roughly $0.62, for each gigabyte delivered to French users.
The charge is conceived as a tax on digital data flows leaving content providers, to be paid by those providers rather than by subscribers, and its revenue is put at €10 billion. The explanatory notes single out Google, Meta, Netflix, Amazon and the content delivery network Akamai as likely contributors, while TikTok and similar platforms could fall within the wider scope depending on how the rules are applied.
Rather than targeting advertising income, profits or subscriptions, the proposal aims at firms that generate heavy internet traffic. It caps the levy at 15% of a company's French revenue or 2% of its worldwide revenue, and it extends to content delivery networks, which keep copies of online material nearer to users to shorten loading times and ease congestion.
How the data would be measured
Internet service providers, among them Orange, Free and Liad, would have to meter data volumes and identify the firms responsible for sending that traffic to French users. The figures would then go quarterly to the French tax administration, under the oversight of the telecoms regulator Arcep.
The amendment's sponsor says roughly 200 billion gigabytes pass through French providers each year, with about five large companies accounting for around half of it. Lhardit contends the charge would fall mainly on global technology groups that generate most of that traffic, and he rejects the idea that platforms would simply pass the cost on to users, pointing to free services such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Objections and unresolved implementation questions
Minister David Amiel asked whether traffic could be measured and attributed to content providers without imposing complicated monitoring obligations. Opponents of the proposal argue it is likely to endanger user privacy, and their concerns extend to possible consequences for French businesses.
The proposal is not yet law, since it must survive further parliamentary review, and government officials have voiced doubts about its implementation, its measurement requirements and its possible effect on smaller providers.
Open questions
- Will the amendment survive further parliamentary scrutiny before entering the budget?
- Can data traffic be measured and attributed to content providers without complicated monitoring?
- How would the levy affect smaller providers and French businesses?