French law cracks down on online hatred

The rule would apply to incitement to hatred or violence, and insults based on race, religion, sexual orientation or disabilities.

Websites which do not react would face very high fines.

The law says sites should avoid removing posts without justification. However, some MPs and campaign groups say it could infringe free speech and passes too much responsibility to the sites, as opposed to the government.

The move is part of measures aimed at fighting online hate which will now be debated by the Senate.