New Caledonia weighs heavy as French Senate approves bill on foreign influence

The ongoing tensions in France’s overseas territory of New Caledonia weighed heavily in a debate at the French Senate on Wednesday (22 May), where Senators strengthened and approved a bill on foreign interference.

The bill includes a measure to expand the scope of algorithmic surveillance of the population. Put in place in 2015 in the wake of the terrorist attacks, algorithmic surveillance has until now been limited to counterterrorism.

The provision allows intelligence services to use algorithms to comb through telecommunications metadata to detect and counteract such threats of foreign interference.

The bill also establishes a national register of agents working in foreign influence operations and includes provisions for freezing the financial assets of individuals or entities involved in specific foreign influence activities.

“With this bill, we are bringing transparency on foreign influence activities and equipping ourselves with the means to detect and sanction those responsible for information manipulation operations,” Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s delegated Minister for Europe, told the Senate debate.

Communist Senator Pascal Savoldelli criticised the bill’s algorithmic surveillance provision:  “It is essential to recognise that the [use of] algorithms is not neutral and involves a certain ideology” of surveillance culture, he said during the Senate debate.

The Senate amended the National Assembly’s text bill, introducing an “aggravating circumstances” provision for crimes and misdemeanours committed when serving foreign interests. Under the amendment, such actions will entail harsher penalties, which legislators hope will better deter potential perpetrators.

The debate at the Senate largely revolved around the ongoing situation in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in South-Pacific embroiled in protests and riots for the last two weeks.

Interference in the Pacific

France blocked TikTok, owned by Shenzhen-based Bytedance, in New Caledonia on 15 May, citing fears that it would “reinforce the sensation of chaos.”

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused Azerbaijan of foreign interference during the New Caledonian crisis at France 2 on 16 May. Azerbaijan, that signed a deal with New Caledonia in April, denied the allegations.

As New Caledonia was dealing with a cyberattack aiming to overwhelm its internet network on Tuesday (21 May), centre-right Senator Claude Malhuret (Horizons, Renew) said it was Russia working behind the scenes. “A new war has begun, which we are slow to understand,” he said before the Senate vote on Wednesday.

The Senator also highlighted what he sees as growing influence of China in New Caledonia.

Senator Agnès Canayer (Les Républicains, EPP) emphasised the urgency of the foreign influence bill, pointing out that such operations often exploit existing political and social vulnerabilities. “We see in New Caledonia a fertile ground for destabilising France due to its volatile situation,” she said.

The bill’s limits

Senators expressed concerns about the bill’s limitations.

Socialist Gisèle Jourda said that “this text is a start, but it should have been more robust”, advocating for broader educational initiatives to raise awareness among youth and local officials about the dangers of foreign influence.

“Unfortunately, it took dramatic events in New Caledonia for this awareness to suddenly arise, for some to realise that when we talk about state interference, it is not a myth,” continued Jourda.

The Senate and National Assembly will now work towards a consensus in a joint committee (CMP) before final adoption.

France's latest foreign interference bill questions democratic control over surveillance services

On Wednesday (27 March), French MPs backed a bill to expand intelligence services competencies to monitor networks, re-opening a debate on democratic control of these agencies.

[Edited by Eliza Gkritsi/Zoran Radosavljevic]

Read more with Euractiv

Passports, criminal records leaked in EU Parliament data breach

Identity cards, passports, excerpts of criminal records, and work experience documents were among the personal data of European Parliament employees compromised in a data breach, according to an internal email sent on Wednesday and seen by Euractiv.