Old press coverage
An article about a dispute, an investigation or a business that closed years ago keeps ranking for your name. Outdated personal data can be a candidate for delisting under the GDPR.
Online reputation management in France
French law gives you real tools against damaging content, from GDPR erasure and delisting to the 1881 press law, but some deadlines are short. We remove what is removable at the source, suppress what is not and rebuild what people find when they search your name.
Get a free assessmentWhy online reputation in France calls for speed and precision.
When a client, partner or employer in France looks you up, page one of Google becomes your story. An old press article, a forum thread or a review written in anger can sit there long after the facts have changed.
France is one of the countries where we actively work. Online reputation management in France combines routes that do not exist everywhere: GDPR requests, search engine delisting and the reporting tools the EU’s Digital Services Act requires from platforms. Choosing the right one for each link is most of the work.
- GDPR erasure and delisting requests where the grounds are there
- Platform reports under each site’s rules and EU notice systems
- Suppression for what stays online, built on accurate content
- For content removal, you pay only after it is removed
[Your Name, Your Company]
AI Overview
Several sources raise concerns about [Your Name], citing complaints1 and disputed claims2.
!forum, 2024
!news aggregator
news-aggregator.com
Allegations and ongoing complaints surface online
old-forum.com
Is this company a scam? What people are saying
★★☆☆☆
1.8 from 240 reviews
What damages names and brands in French search.
These are the situations we see when people search a name or brand in France.
Fake or defamatory reviews
Coordinated one-star reviews or false accusations on review platforms and maps listings. Reviews that break the platform’s rules can be reported and taken down.
Forum and social threads
A thread or post accusing you of fraud spreads and ranks before anyone reaches your own site.
Personal data exposed
Your address, phone number or private photos published without consent. Data protection law gives you specific rights over this kind of content.
Results that differ by language
French and international contacts may search you in different languages and on different versions of Google, and the results are not always the same.
AI summaries repeating it
Google’s AI Overviews and AI assistants build their answer from what ranks. A negative source on page one can end up in the summary about you.
Platforms where we protect reputations
The French and EU rules behind every removal.
This is general information, not legal advice. Media Removal is not a law firm. For a lawsuit or a criminal complaint in France, speak with a lawyer admitted there.
The 1881 press law and its short deadline
French defamation and insult are defined by the Press Freedom Law of 29 July 1881, which covers publication by any means of electronic communication to the public, so online posts are included. Under Article 65, criminal and civil actions are time-barred three full months after the offense, which in practice runs from publication, unless the period is interrupted by an investigation or prosecution step. Article 65-3 extends it to one year for certain offenses, such as defamation based on origin or religion. If you are considering legal action, time matters. [1]
GDPR erasure and the CNIL
Article 17 of the GDPR lets you ask an organization to erase your personal data in certain situations. According to the CNIL, it must act within one month, extendable to three for complex requests, and it can refuse in limited cases such as freedom of expression and information or legal claims. If the answer is unsatisfactory, you can file a complaint with the CNIL. [2]
Delisting is not deletion
To remove a link from search results, the request goes directly to the search engine. Both Article 17 and Article 21 of the GDPR can support it, and the engine weighs your privacy against the public’s right to information. A delisted page stays on the source website, so we pursue removal at the source in parallel where there are grounds. [2] [3]
The Digital Services Act
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), you can report illegal content through a mechanism directly on the platform. If content is removed or suspended, the platform must explain why, and its decisions can be appealed through the platform itself or an out-of-court dispute settlement body. [4]
Services our clients in France use most.
We start with removal where the law or a platform rule supports it and suppress the rest.
Service
Content removal
Defamatory news, fake reviews, harmful posts and impersonation content removed across the main platforms.
Service
Negative content suppression
We push damaging results off page one and rank accurate, authoritative content in their place.
Service
Trustpilot review removal
Fraudulent and policy-violating reviews taken down at the source, strictly within Trustpilot’s own rules.
Service
AI Overview optimization
We reframe the sources and signals Google’s AI Overviews read, so the summary about you is accurate.
Service
Reputation crisis management
When a story is spreading, we respond the same day to contain it, stabilize it and rebuild.
What a recovered page one looks like.
The same search for your name or business before and after we act on what ranks in France.
Before
Your official content: not ranking
[Your Name, Your Company]
AI Overview
Coverage of [Your Name] is dominated by complaints and a disputed story.
news-aggregator.com
Allegations and ongoing complaints
old-forum.com
Is this company a scam? Honest take
★★☆☆☆
1.8 from 240 reviews
After
Your official content: ranking #1
[Your Name, Your Company]
AI Overview
[Your Name] is described accurately, with verified sources and recent positive coverage leading the result.
yourdomain.com
Official statement and verified company profile
businessinsider.com
Recent coverage and industry commentary
★★★★★
4.7 from 240 reviews
Assess
Map the damage
Stabilize
Stop the spread
Suppress
Bury the damage
Monitor
Hold the result
How we handle a case in France.
A clear set of stages, fully transparent and confidential.
- 01
Free assessment
Send us your name or brand and the links that worry you. We answer within one business day.
- 02
Route for each link
For every result we identify the strongest path: a platform rule, a GDPR request, delisting or suppression.
- 03
Removal and requests
We file the reports and requests, follow them up and act on the sources first.
- 04
Suppress and monitor
What stays online is outranked by accurate content, and we watch your search results for anything new.
Real cases and guides for France.
Proof from real engagements and the guides our team keeps up to date.
Law guide
Defamation laws in France
The 1881 press law, time limits, defenses, right of reply and data protection in one place.
Guide
The right to be forgotten
What the right to be forgotten covers, what it does not and how to use it with Google.
Case study
A defamatory Google Sites page removed in 6 days
A page posing as a former client’s review was really an ad for a competitor. We proved it and Google removed it six days after our request.
Guide
How to remove news articles from Google
The options available when a news article ranks for your name and puts your reputation at risk.
Questions about reputation management in France.
Cannot find what you are looking for? Send us your question and we answer within one business day.
Send your questionHow much does online reputation management cost in France?
It depends on the number of results and how they can be handled. For content removal, you are billed only when the URL is verified offline, with no retainer and no setup fee. For ongoing reputation management, the first month is contingent on the strategy we deliver in week one. If you do not see the path forward, you do not pay.
Can I use the right to be forgotten to remove an article about me?
In some cases. A delisting request asks the search engine to stop showing a link for searches on your name, and it is weighed against the public’s right to information. The article itself stays on the publisher’s site unless it is removed at the source, which we pursue separately where there are grounds.
Is there a deadline to act against defamation in France?
Yes, and it is short. Under the 1881 press law, criminal and civil actions are in most cases barred three months after publication. Platform reports and GDPR requests follow different rules, so they can remain options after that, but speak with a lawyer quickly if you are considering court action.
How long does removal take?
According to the CNIL, an organization must answer an erasure request within one month, extendable to three for complex requests. Platform reports depend on each platform. Suppression takes longer: many results move within a few months, while deeply entrenched content takes longer.
What cannot be removed?
Accurate reporting on matters of public interest, especially recent ones, is hard to remove or delist, and public figures have less room than private individuals. Not every negative review can come down either. Your assessment tells you which links are removable and which we suppress instead.
Is my case kept confidential?
Yes. Every client signs an NDA, and so do we.
Take back control of what people find about you in France.
Send us your name and the links that worry you. We review them for free: what can be removed, what can be delisted, what we suppress and a clear plan, with an answer within one business day.
Sources
- Loi du 29 juillet 1881 sur la liberté de la presse, arts. 23, 29, 65 and 65-3 (Légifrance)
- CNIL, Le droit à l’effacement : supprimer vos données en ligne
- European Data Protection Board, Guidelines 5/2019 on the criteria of the right to be forgotten in the search engines cases under the GDPR
- European Commission, The Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065)
Last reviewed 2026-11-02. This page is general information, not legal advice.