Student protests in France present an interesting international example of the interaction between law enforcement and free speech rights. It is often in high-stress scenarios, like how the police are handling protests, that police interactions are subject to heightened scrutiny. The French Ministry of the Interior stated in 2008 that French police officers cannot object to being filmed while carrying out police work, and cannot use being filmed as a reason to arrest you. Additionally, in May 2021, France’s Constitutional Council struck down part of the "Global Security Law" that criminalized the malicious dissemination of images and videos of police officers. However, this right is not absolute. In August 2021, the Constitutional Court made it a criminal offense to post videos with identifying information with the intent of harming a police officer and their family. None of this means that police always adhere to these laws or regulations, and many people still have their phones confiscated by the police or are otherwise punished.
Disturbing reports from recent protests include police officers throwing tear-gas cannisters in students' faces, and in one especially grusome situation, the police detonated a stun grenade that blew off a student's hands. These sorts of images provoke distinct emotional responses and are the kind of things a foreign actor might target. Here is an example of how that might play out: France has committed 1.1% of its GDP to support Ukraine. A foreign actor like Russia may create short-form content asking its audience to question why France is spending so much money abroad when it could be spending it on its people, who are clearly in crisis.
