In a major international cooperation effort, French law enforcers joined forces with authorities from Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands to demolish the chat website Coco. The site was used by criminals for child pornography and sexual exploitation. It also allowed drug dealers to sell drugs, and violent acts such as homicides.
French authorities seized servers and funds worth millions in the operation, which was initiated in December 2023. Rights groups had long called for Coco to be shut down, with SOS Homophobie citing a brutal attack on a gay man as an example of a crime set up on the site.
In the latest raid, prosecutors confiscated files and other documents relating to Coco's operation. They also seized personal information for nearly 2 million users.
On Twitter, the French interior ministry said that the raid "provoked a strong reaction" from some online critics. Some expressed concern over the amount of data seized, whereas others expressed concern about privacy issues.
Some commenters on the social media said that the raid might damage France's reputation as an open, democratic country. Others pointed to a lack of transparency and demanded that the raid be made public. Some users demanded the return of their personal information. In the end, the ministry said it would comply with the requests. When the victims' or their families will receive the information is not known. The investigation is ongoing.
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