We indeed seem to be in a race towards the bottom in this regard, but France was always a "forerunner".

Already 15 years ago it was illegal to use Wi-Fi outside buildings in France. I still remember the old Nokias plastered with those warnings.

And I remember the longstanding argument why women should not be allowed to vote in France, because that's what brought Hitler to power. They were the third last European country to do so, only Greece and Switzerland were more backwards.