France’s top officials and civil servants will ditch foreign‑owned messaging apps in favour of a home‑grown alternative.
The move came amid mounting concerns over cyber‑attacks and espionage.
Prime Minister François Bayrou has instructed senior officials and civil servants to stop using WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and other foreign platforms for work‑related communications.
In a ministerial notice, Bayrou warned that public sector employees faced a “growing risk” of having their messages intercepted.
“Public sector employees face a growing risk of their electronic communications being intercepted, jeopardising the confidentiality of their exchanges. In addition to this risk, they are confronted with a rising number of cyberattacks,” he said.
He also emphasised that now cyberattacks represented “a major threat” and that officials “need to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of all such communications”.
From September 1, civil servants within ministerial offices and central administrations will be required to switch to the French encrypted app, Tchap.
“In order to ensure the security of conversations and information shared via instant messaging, we are asking you to widely deploy the messaging system Tchap,” the government statement to officials read.
Tchap was developed for public sector employees and operated by the French Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM).
The app guaranteed total confidentiality of professional exchanges, is hosted on the Ministry of the Interior’s cloud and has been validated by the French cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI).
The app will allow for centralised communication between the agents to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and fully control the confidentiality of communications.
In his memo, Bayrou decried the fact that the app “has only attracted around 300,000 agents” out of the 5.7 million civil servants.
The move came as concerns have grown that France’s deepening reliance on US tech giants was raising alarms about digital sovereignty and exposing public data to foreign jurisdictions.
France’s deepening reliance on US tech giants is raising alarms about digital sovereignty and exposing public data to foreign jurisdictions. https://t.co/VvbsfCH2pP
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 17, 2025
