Tweeting exit poll results from the upcoming French presidential election will be against the law, it has emerged. In France, there are strict rules that prohibit the broadcasting of polls or exit surveys until the voting period has closed, and while traditional broadcasters respect this the French commission for opinion polls has decided that social media will be subject to the same restrictions. Violating this law could result in a fine of between €3,500 - €75,000 ($4,588 - $98,322), and the Journal du Dimanche reported that coverage could even cause the election's cancellation, either from broadcast media or the 5.2 million Twitter users and 40 million Facebook users in France.

The law is designed to prevent results from French territories in different timezones influencing others, but it's unclear what action, if any, the government will be able to take against posts coming from Francophone countries such as Switzerland and Belgium — the open nature of the internet makes such laws less and less enforceable. Just as the sight of a presidential candidate referencing the Konami code got our hopes up for a more tech-friendly French government, as well.