French Senate Passes ‘Rioters-Pay’ Bill

The French Senate has passed a bill that would make participants in violent protests financially liable for damage, even if they did not personally cause it.

The upper house adopted the so-called “rioters-pay” bill overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday by 229 votes to 105.

It was backed by a right-wing and centrist majority.

The legislation allows courts to order individuals to pay up to €10,000 (about $11,000) in compensation.

Liability extends to anyone found to have “knowingly participated” in a group formed to commit vandalism or looting.

It also covers those who remain at a gathering likely to disrupt public order after two police dispersal warnings.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the bill creates “joint responsibility, not collective responsibility“.

The bill was drafted after riots following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final victory in May.

It gained fresh urgency after protests over failing schools and the cost of living turned violent on 17 October.

Social Benefits and Online Content

The most controversial provision allows the state to seize part of family allowances, housing assistance and France’s minimum-income benefit to recover damages.

Senators expanded the list to include family supplements, the back-to-school allowance and employment bonus.

If rioters are minors, their parents can be held liable.

The Senate also approved an amendment requiring social media platforms to remove content inciting violence, vandalism or insurrection within 24 hours of an official request.

Platforms that fail to comply face blocking or delisting.

The bill now moves to the National Assembly, where political divisions could complicate its passage.

Critics, including left-wing senators and Amnesty International, warn the measure undermines freedom of assembly.

Communist senator Fabien Gay called it a “legal travesty” that conflates protesters with rioters.

Green senator Melanie Vogel accused the government of introducing “collective punishment“.

Amnesty International warned that seizing family benefits and housing assistance could push vulnerable households further into poverty.