Policy Observatory

President Francois Hollande said Tuesday in Paris the government will present a draft law next month that makes Internet operators “accomplices” of hate-speech offenses if they host extremist messages. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he will travel to the U.S. to seek help from the heads of Twitter Inc. and Microsoft Corp. as well as Google and Facebook. Spokesmen for the companies did not immediately return requests for comment.

US President Barack Obama has ordered the creation of a programme that would allow the government to sanction foreign hackers.

The authorisation gives the US Treasury Secretary - in coordination with the Attorney General and Secretary of State - the ability to sanction "individuals or entities" that pose a cyber threat to the "national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States," Mr Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

The French data protection authority, the CNIL, has issued the company with a formal notice to comply with European data protection law or face possible sanctions.

Facebook has been given three months to make the changes deemed necessary by the CNIL.