France to end Bloctel service as 2025 law bans cold‑call marketing

The Bloctel anti‑spam list, used by 12 million French consumers to block unsolicited telemarketing calls, will cease operation on 11 August. The shutdown follows the activation of a new law passed on 30 June 2025 that prohibits all cold‑call telephone marketing, except for companies with which the consumer already has a contract.

With Bloctel’s disappearance, many users remain vulnerable to spam calls. An alternative, the Saracroche app developed by freelance programmer Camille Bouvat, blocks around 16 million numbers identified as sources of spam and provides its source code publicly on GitHub. The app aims to fill the gap left by Bloctel, though the effectiveness of the new legislation in eradicating undesired calls remains uncertain.