France to replace US videoconferencing wares with unfortunately named sovereign alternative

France has officially told Zoom, Teams, and the rest of the US videoconferencing herd to take a hike in favor of its own homegrown app.

The plan, announced on Monday, is to shove US videoconferencing tools out of the French public sector altogether, with Zoom, Teams, Webex, and Google Meet making way for a state-built alternative that Paris says keeps its data, infrastructure, and legal exposure firmly at home.

The platform, called Visio, is being developed and rolled out by the government's Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) and is set to become the default, and eventually exclusive, video meeting tool for public servants.

The announcement was made by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance as part of France's broader push for digital sovereignty. The government says that using foreign videoconferencing platforms exposes official communications to overseas infrastructure, laws, and political pressures it would rather avoid.

"This ...