Orange outage strikes riot-hit France days after social media blackout calls
French telco says the incident is a network problem, and its cause remains undetermined.
Photo by John Milner via Getty Images.
Follow us
- Orange says a mobile network incident is disrupting calls, messages, and internet access across France.
- Downdetector showed tens of thousands of reports about Orange mobile service problems on Wednesday morning.
- French politicians recently debated temporary social media restrictions during riots and unrest.
- Orange says the outage is a network problem, and no evidence links it to proposed restrictions.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A major outage across Orange’s mobile network has left thousands of customers in France struggling to make calls, send messages, and access the internet, just days after French politicians discussed restricting social media during nationwide arrest.
French telecom giant Orange confirmed on Wednesday that an incident affecting its mobile network in France was causing major disruptions to its customers across the country.
Technical teams are working to identify the cause of the incident and restore services, a company spokesperson told Reuters.
Downdetector, which tracks outages by aggregating status reports from multiple sources, showed tens of thousands of reports about issues with Orange's mobile services in France on Wednesday morning.
In a post on X, Orange acknowledged that customers might be experiencing disruptions, adding that its teams were “fully mobilized to restore the network as soon as possible.”
Its low-cost subsidiary Sosh issued a similar statement, apologizing for the inconvenience.
In replies to Orange's announcement, cross customers announced their outrage on X.
"I'm a taxi driver, I’m completely stuck. I need live info on train stations, airports, etc to work,” complained one poster, AAG, asking how long the disruption would last.
Others found humour in the chaos.
Thank you Orange & Sosh. My mother-in-law was supposed to call me to come and pick her up from the train station. No signal, no mother-in-law!One poster on X finds humor in outage.
C'est une coïncidence?
The disruption comes amid heated political debate over whether social media platforms should be temporarily restricted as riots and unrest sweep across France.
French presidential hopeful Gabriel Attal has proposed giving authorities powers to selectively block platforms accused of helping rioters organize and spread violence.
“Social media cannot serve as the rallying point for rioters and the driving force behind violent mimicry,” Attal reportedly argued.
“During riots, we must be able to temporarily and selectively block access to certain platforms in order to halt the pack effect,” he added.
On Tuesday, French officials also called an emergency meeting with tech companies, including Meta and TikTok, and pressed them to crack down on content encouraging looting, arson, and curfew violations.
Authorities reportedly want stronger moderation of livestreams, violent footage, posts promoting illegal activity, and manipulated or AI-generated material.
However, there is currently no evidence linking the mobile network disruption to the proposed restrictions. Orange has described the incident as a network problem, and its cause remains undetermined.
