France said on Friday it would crack down on social media posts that put people in danger by divulging their personal details, a week after the murder of a teacher targeted in an online campaign over Prophet Mohammed cartoons.
In the run-up to the murder, the parent of one of Samuel Paty’s students and a known Islamist radical had run a social media campaign against the teacher.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex said a pending draft law defending secular values against radical Islam — known as an anti-separatism law — would now be amended to allow the prosecution of anybody who posts personal details online if this “threatens the life of another”.
Once voted into law, the provision will allow “the punishment of those who post personal information, thus threatening the life of a person, for example a teacher”, Prime Minister Castex said.
