French Prime Minister Sbastien Lecornu asked the country's four major telecom operators to prepare to temporarily block access to TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X ahead of nationwide protests on October 24.

Axar.az reports, citing investigative outlet Blast, that Lecornu wrote to the heads of Orange, SFR, Free and Bouygues Telecom on October 22, asking them to prepare the technical measures needed to suspend access to the platforms for several hours if he issued an instruction.

The letter said the measure could be implemented on October 24 or 25, depending on the situation. X was added to the list of targeted platforms after the letter was sent, the report said.

The government justified the request by arguing that social media had played a decisive role in spreading unlawful calls and coordinating violence during protests on October 17 and 18, including looting and the sharing of information about targets and police positions.

However, during a videoconference on October 23, representatives of the telecom operators raised legal and technical concerns about the proposed restrictions.

The report comes amid a wave of protests across France over the cost of living, wages and pensions.

According to figures, the October 24 demonstrations drew around 400,000 participants nationwide, according to the Interior Ministry, while the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) estimated attendance at 800,000.