Paris. France can breathe deeply for the first time since the riots began. After a weekend of looting and serious riots, things remained quiet on Tuesday night. In Paris's Place de la République and in the Les Halles district, where there were violent clashes, hardly any people were seen during the night other than small groups of police. A surveillance helicopter circled over the capital. The authorities had imposed partial curfews in many cities, including Lille, Nice and Bordeaux.
A discussion broke out about how the situation could escalate to such an extent. US President Donald Trump wrote on his network Truth Social on Monday: "Migrants have taken over France. They must CLOSE the borders QUICKLY!" Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) names left-wing extremists and migrants as the authors of the violence on France's streets.
And investigators in the country also blame two groups for the escalation. Both have nothing in common with the hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators who took to the streets for better education and against high costs of living.
By Monday evening, more than 2,500 people had been taken into custody. According to authorities, around 80 percent of those arrested are men between the ages of 18 and 30, many of whom already have criminal records.
The government primarily names radical left-wing groups as the drivers of the violence. On Tuesday morning, a special unit arrested the main suspect for the arson in Limoges town hall: a left-wing extremist listed as a threat. Investigators suspect him of setting the fire. The historic town hall was largely destroyed.
However, violent young people from the suburbs also contributed significantly to the escalation. Authorities see their influx as the “critical mass” with which the violence continued for many hours and kept the overwhelmed police busy on several fronts at the same time. The Paris police prefecture said on Sunday that those arrested were "mainly youth from the suburbs who were looking for opportunities to loot."
In many places, the so-called banlieues are characterized by poverty and a high proportion of people with a migrant background. However, the debate about this is conducted differently in France than in Germany. Children born in France automatically gain the right to citizenship at the age of 18. Jordan Bardella from the right-wing Rassemblement National criticized the fact that many “do not feel French”.
As the political scientist and pollster Jérôme Fourquet tells the newspaper “Le Parisien”, these young people were looking for “crossing borders” and the “feeling of power”. This is associated with a “minimal risk”. “The likelihood of being arrested is low and the likelihood of subsequently receiving a severe sentence is even lower,” says Fourquet. The excessive demands on the security forces, which the government itself admitted, further fueled the situation.
In addition, the role of social networks is also coming into focus. Over the weekend, looting and destruction was streamed and shared on Tiktok and Snapchat. According to Fourquet, young people gain respect in their neighborhoods by filming their actions and distributing them online. It is now being discussed how much the platforms have fueled the riots. Calls for looting and violence sometimes reached enormous numbers over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Digital State Secretary Anne Le Hénanff met with those responsible for social media. According to the AFP news agency, the French media regulator Arcom has asked providers to inform them about the measures taken.
Presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called for a “temporary suspension” of the platforms. “During riots, we must be able to temporarily and specifically block access to certain platforms to prevent the herd effect,” he wrote on X.
In 2025, Tiktok was temporarily blocked due to unrest in New Caledonia, the French island group in the South Pacific. However, the Conseil d’État, the highest administrative court, had classified the measure as illegal and a “disproportionate interference with freedom of expression”. However, such a measure remains possible if there are particularly serious safety concerns.
Meanwhile, looted goods are turning up on resale platforms like eBay or Vinted. Across the country, 3,000 stores were attacked, destroyed or looted. The government called on the platforms to immediately remove the posts in question. After meeting with the government, the platforms agreed to work with the authorities. Suspicious offers should be checked and reported, but data on possible stolen goods should also be passed on to the authorities. They also inform users about the penalties for receiving stolen property and regularly report how many ads they have removed.
The government wants to prevent the riots from spreading further. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced further curfews “if the situation requires it,” as he wrote on X. Further curfews have been imposed in cities such as Lyon, Lille and Bordeaux. This measure is more common in crisis situations in France than in Germany. Examples include the 2025 suburban riots and protests in Martinique and New Caledonia in 2024 and 2025.
Several large demonstrations have already been announced for Saturday and in the coming weeks. The Prime Minister will meet unions and parties this week. The Interior Minister has already announced more police for the next day of protest on Saturday than last weekend in order to prevent riots.
