The 2022 French Presidential election leaves its mark on the Internet

The first round of the 2022 French presidential election was held on April 10, and a run-off will be held on April 24 between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. During the voting period, Internet traffic in France decreased compared to previous Sundays, with the largest difference at 14:00 UTC (16:00 local time), when traffic dropped by as much as 16%. After polling stations closed, there was a significant increase in traffic to news and election-related websites. Mobile usage trends showed that people were using their mobile devices more on Election Day, with mobile usage representing 60% of Internet traffic at around 09:00 local time. Official French election-related websites experienced an increase in traffic throughout the week, with major spikes occurring when the first exit polls were revealed and when 84% of the votes were counted. News outlets also saw a significant increase in traffic on Election Day, particularly around 20:00 local time when the main exit polls were announced. Social media trends did not show any clear impact from the elections.