Xavier Niel Slams French Lawmakers Over 5.5-Cent Data Tax

Xavier Niel, founder of Free and Iliad, has publicly attacked the French lawmakers behind a new tax on digital data. Asked on X on 30 October about the levy of 0.055 euro per gigabyte, he replied the next day, Saturday 31 October: "Ce sont des ignares incompétents", or roughly "They are ignorant, incompetent people." His post was viewed more than 250,000 times within hours. When another user said MPs were good at emptying French pockets, Niel added that they know how to do nothing but create new taxes.

What the amendment says

On Friday 30 October, the National Assembly adopted amendment I-1358 to the 2027 finance bill, tabled by Socialist MP Laurent Lhardit. It creates a "tax on digital data producers": any company sending data to French internet users would pay 5.5 cents per gigabyte delivered. Internet providers such as Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free would have to measure the volumes and report them to the tax authority.

The text targets the biggest traffic generators. Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akamai are said to account for half of the data flowing in France. Its authors hope for up to 10 billion euros a year, with a cap of 15% of French revenue or 2% of worldwide revenue.

The vote was 11 to 10 in a nearly empty chamber, against the government's position and that of the budget rapporteur. The finance committee had rejected the measure in early October.

Who pays in the end

On paper, neither users nor operators are taxed. In practice, platforms could absorb the cost, accept thinner margins or raise subscription prices. An hour of 4K Netflix uses up to 7 GB, close to 40 cents of tax, and a 200 GB game download would cost its distributor 11 euros. Opponents fear consumers will ultimately foot the bill.

Niel is not a neutral voice here: Free would have to count and declare the volumes delivered to its subscribers, and Iliad also owns the hosting provider Scaleway, which itself sends data to users.

The tax does not yet exist. The amendment is one step in the 2027 budget process and can be modified or removed during the exchanges with the Senate, or fall away if the government pushes the budget through without a vote.