France Rejects Anti-Encryption Legislation

France has pulled back from the brink at the eleventh hour, voting against a piece of legislation that would have severely weakened encryption and privacy.

French lawmakers have been working to pass legislation that would have forced platforms like Signal, WhatsApp, and Apple’s iMessage to implement a backdoor to bypass encryption and give the government access to private communication. The legislation had already advanced significantly before finally being voted down by the French National Assembly.

As the Electronic Frontier Foundation points out, the proposed legislation would have allowed law enforcement to secretly join any chat, including encrypted ones.

The proposed law was a surveillance wishlist disguised as anti-drug legislation. Tucked into its text was a resurrection of the widely discredited “ghost” participant model—a backdoor that pretends not to be one. Under this scheme, law enforcement could silently join encrypted chats, undermining the very idea of private communication. Security experts have condemned the approach, warning it would introduce systemic vulnerabilities, damage trust in secure communication platforms, and create tools ripe for abuse.

The EFF applauds the French lawmakers who stood up for privacy, saying their decision should serve as a signal and model for other jurisdictions that are considering similar measures. The organization then drives home the point that encryption is not the boogeyman, but is an important technology that helps keep people safe.

France’s rejection of the backdoor provision should send a message to legislatures around the world: you don’t have to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of public safety. Encryption is not the enemy of justice; it’s a tool that supports our fundamental human rights, including the right to have a private conversation. It is a pillar of modern democracy and cybersecurity.

As governments in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and elsewhere continue to flirt with anti-encryption laws, this decision should serve as a model—and a warning. Undermining encryption doesn’t make society safer. It makes everyone more vulnerable.

This victory was not inevitable. It came after sustained public pressure, expert input, and tireless advocacy from civil society. It shows that pushing back works. But for the foreseeable future, misguided lobbyists for police national security agencies will continue to push similar proposals—perhaps repackaged, or rushed through quieter legislative moments.

Governments around the world continually put forward efforts to weaken encryption, or put a backdoor in it, completely ignoring the fact that any backdoor for “the good guys” can be easily exploited by “the bad guys.”

Strong encryption is not about politics or policy, law enforcement or criminals, or even good or bad. It is about the fundamental ability to protect everything from people’s privacy to the largest organizations’ financial transactions to governments’ top secret data. Encryption enables people to speak freely and, in some cases, can protect people from reprisal and even death.

There is simply no way to weaken it for one without weakening it for all—and putting all in jeopardy. French lawmakers appear to have realized that before it was too late.

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