First screen, captured 2 days ago. Hover to scroll the page, or open the video.

French lawmakers approved a tax of €0.055 for every gigabyte of internet traffic

What HN thinks

Eleven deputies walk into a near-empty chamber, and the internet does the maths on its Netflix bill.

Absurd, anti-tech, harmful tax
Many see a per-gigabyte levy as a blunt disincentive on economic activity that will raise streaming prices, add ads and signal that France is hostile to tech investment.
Overblown; it won't become law
Others note it passed 11 to 10 in a near-empty session as a budget amendment the government opposes, so the Senate or later votes will likely remove it.
Targets big platforms, not users
Readers of the amendment say it hits large content providers like Netflix and YouTube with a cap, not individuals, Tor relays or small self-hosters.

Consensus: Most agree the tax as described is a bad idea, but also that it is far from final and probably aimed at big content platforms rather than ordinary users.

Summarised by Claude from the comment thread 2 days ago.

Points: 71
Comments: 95
Best rank: #2
Posted: 2026-10-31 by helloplanets
Category: Politics policy

digital-tax france assemblee-nationale internet-traffic budget-2027 big-tech net-neutrality

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