It only takes a few clicks to find out. Admittedly, the MOBI-KIDS study concluded that there was no evidence of a link between mobile phones and brain tumours in young people. However, the telecoms industry runs through it at every level:
- Orange was an official partner of the EU-funded consortium;
- France Télécom, then Orange and Orange Labs, led the assessment of participants’ exposure to radiofrequencies. They also developed the measurement tools, according to the study’s own reports;
- the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) coordinates the study. Moreover, the “la Caixa” Foundation appoints its president and vice-president. In addition, the foundation’s holding company, CriteriaCaixa, holds nearly 10% of Telefónica, Spain’s leading operator.
ANSES relies on MOBI-KIDS without a word about these links
All this appears on the European Commission’s websites, in the study’s publications and in ISGlobal’s reports. Yet the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) funded several projects linked to MOBI-KIDS. Then it included the study in its “Radiofrequencies and cancer” assessment, published in November 2025.
The European Ombudsman’s decision ignored
Even the European Ombudsman’s decision prompted no reaction from ANSES or the French public authorities: not a word in this “Radiofrequencies and cancer” report. Yet in June 2024, the Ombudsman found maladministration by the European Commission. At issue: access to documents concerning the conflicts of interest in MOBI-KIDS. Even today, the phone models used in the study remain secret, to protect the manufacturers’ reputation.
Double standards
Thus, in the same report, ANSES sets aside a Swiss study. The reason: a foundation of the electricity and mobile phone industry funds it. By contrast, ANSES includes MOBI-KIDS without a word about Orange or ISGlobal.
Phonegate Alert asks ANSES for its documents
In June 2026, Phonegate Alert asked ANSES to refer the matter to its committee on ethics and the prevention of conflicts of interest. Having received no reply, the association therefore sent ANSES a request for access to documents on 10 November. In particular, it covers funding, declarations of interests and how ANSES assessed MOBI-KIDS.
Our letter to ANSES of 10 November 2026 (in French)
“The conflicts of interest in this study are there for all to see, and nobody is shocked. We are going to act to bring full transparency to this public health issue, where industry should never hold such a place without everyone crying out”
Dr Marc Arazi, President of Phonegate Alert
MOBI-KIDS conflicts of interest: all the evidence
Our dossier page brings together the study’s internal documents, the decisions of the European Commission and the European Ombudsman, and the links between Orange, ISGlobal, the researchers and industry. Every item is sourced.
Other documents
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