Le Monde

French Publishers File Antitrust Complaint Against Google

France’s Alliance de la Presse D’Information Générale (APIG), which represents major French newspapers and magazines, has filed a complaint with the national competition authority seeking compensation from Google for using publisher content in its AI Overviews and AI Mode products without prior consent or payment. APIG says Google violated French neighbouring-rights laws that require large digital platforms to negotiate payment terms with publishers. The group cites a regulator estimate that AI summaries account for 33–38% of publishers’ traffic losses in European markets where they operate. APIG says it does not oppose AI innovation but wants publishers fairly remunerated and hopes the complaint will bring Google back to the negotiating table. The article notes Google was previously fined €500 million in 2022 for non-compliance with related obligations.

France bans social media for under-15s

France has approved a law prohibiting children under 15 from using or creating accounts on social networks. New accounts will be blocked from September 1, 2026; existing accounts of under-15s must be suspended by January 1, 2027. Platforms will be required to implement effective age-verification procedures. The law includes exceptions for non-social, educational services and allows limited functions on YouTube and WhatsApp (viewing videos and private messaging) while restricting social functions. The measure precedes EU-wide proposals and is under review for compatibility with the EU Digital Services Act, drawing praise from President Emmanuel Macron and criticism about fragmenting rules across member states.

Publishers Rebuild Web for AI Agents

Publishers including Time, The Economist and Le Monde are experimenting with agent‑readable versions of their sites and stricter bot controls to prepare for an agentic web where AI agents fetch and act on content. Time has converted pages into markdown, blocks unknown AI crawlers by default and whitelists approved bots that are redirected to markdown pages; it uses TollBit to perform HTML-to-markdown conversions. The Economist is piloting agent‑readable feeds for marketing and B2B material, while a third major publisher is testing the Web Model Context Protocol (WebMCP), a web standard co-developed by Google and Microsoft to share structured data with AI agents. Publishers cite benefits such as improved visibility in AI search, lower CDN/bot costs and reduced token consumption, while some consultants warn rebuilding for agents should be a deliberate, value-driven decision.