Online defamation in France: you only have 3 months to act
In France, publicly accusing someone of a specific fact that harms their honour or reputation is defamation, including in an online review, comment or post. You can ask the platform to remove it, but legal action must be started within 3 months of the first online publication.
Important : Very short deadline: you only have 3 months from the first online publication of the message (1 year if the words are racist or discriminatory) to take legal action. Simply filing a police complaint does not always stop the clock. Note the publication date and get advice without delay.
Who it is for
Anyone (person or business) targeted online by a statement of a specific fact that harms their honour or reputation, in a review, comment, post, page or profile the public can see. An insult with no specific fact is a different offence (insult, “injure”); a message visible only to a small circle (friends, private group) may be non-public defamation, which is punished less severely.
Time frame
3 full months from the first online publication to take legal action (1 year for racist or discriminatory defamation). There is no set legal deadline for the platform to remove the content.
Cost
Reporting and filing a complaint: free. A commissaire de justice’s record, a lawyer and the court deposit (required for a direct summons and set according to your income): paid.
Legal basis
French Press Freedom Law of 29 July 1881: Article 29 (definition of defamation and insult), Article 23 (covers any means of electronic communication to the public), Article 32 (defamation of an individual: €12,000 fine; 1 year in prison and €45,000 if racist or discriminatory), Article 53 (formal requirements, on pain of nullity), Article 65 (3-month limitation period) and Article 65-3 (1 year for racist or discriminatory statements). French Court of Cassation, Criminal Chamber, 11 June 2024, No. 23-86.920: the deadline runs from the first online publication.
The steps
- Write down straight away the date the message was first put online (not the date you found it): the 3-month deadline runs from that date.
- Preserve the evidence: URL, exact wording, visible date, number of views or shares, screenshots. If a lot is at stake, a commissaire de justice (formerly huissier, a court officer) can make a formal record, for a fee.
- Ask the platform or host to remove it using its reporting form (DSA, Article 16), citing the French Law of 29 July 1881 (Article 29).
- Report it to the police or gendarmerie: PHAROS does not handle defamation.
- To have the author prosecuted, the courts must be involved within the 3 months. Only certain acts stop the clock, such as a direct summons (you bring the case to court yourself) or an investigation order from the prosecutor that specifically identifies the statements: simply filing a police complaint is not always enough. A direct summons follows very strict rules, so a lawyer’s help is strongly advised; 116 006 (free victim support line in France) can guide you.
- After the deadline, other routes may sometimes remain: an erasure request (GDPR), identity theft, invasion of privacy, a DSA notice.
What to prepare
- The date of first publication, with a screenshot showing it
- The URL and the exact wording, word for word
- Dated screenshots showing views, shares and comments
- The name of the account or author, if known
- If the stakes justify it, a formal record by a commissaire de justice (paid)
Official links
- Service-Public.fr – defamation (official guide, in French)
- Service-Public.fr – reporting illegal online content (in French)
- Service-Public.fr – how to file a police complaint in France (in French)
The limits you should know
- A very formal procedure: a mistake in the legal document (facts not specified precisely, wrong article of law) can make the case void.
- Judges decide where defamation, insult and legitimate criticism begin and end: an opinion or an honest negative review is not necessarily illegal.
- Leaving the message online does not extend the deadline, and neither does simply renaming the page.
- The person sued can defend themselves by proving good faith or that the facts are true.
- The platform may refuse to remove content if it does not find it clearly unlawful.
If it doesn’t work
An official form can go unanswered or be wrongly refused. That’s not the end: there are other doors, heavier but effective — the company hosting the site, the company managing its domain name, the laws of your country, the data protection authority. That’s exactly what we do for you, with your agreement.
- Reporting to the platform
- A written request to the site owner
- The domain name registrar
- The hosting company
- Search engines
- The authority or the courts
This information helps you use your rights. It doesn’t replace advice from a lawyer.