French President Emmanuel Macron has pointed out the dangerous role of social networks in the escalation of violence during mass unrest and proposed to disable these communication sites during the riots.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pointed out the dangerous role of social networks in the escalation of violence during mass unrest and proposed to disable these communication sites during the riots.
“We have to think about social networks, about the bans that we should put in place. When the situation gets out of control, we might need to be able to regulate or disable them,” Macron said in a meeting with city mayors on Tuesday.
Macron and government ministers have pointed to the role played by platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok and Telegram in fomenting and organizing riots and violence in France over the past week.
“When (social media) becomes a tool [grautiņu] organizing or assassination attempts, this is a real problem,” Macron emphasized.
As reported, every night since June 27, France has experienced violent riots and riots, which was caused by the death of a 17-year-old teenager of Arab origin as a result of a bullet fired by a police officer. The teenager refused to stop his car at the request of the police and tried to run away.
Macron’s idea of restricting social media has been criticized by both right-wing and left-wing politicians in the opposition, and Macron has even earned comparisons with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“Shut down social networks? Like in China, Iran or North Korea? Even if it’s a provocation to distract attention, it’s in very bad taste,” Conservative spokesman Olivier Marlec tweeted.
Criticism came from Macron’s supporters in the parliament. Shutting down social networks would mean “abandoning the idea that democracy is stronger than the tools used against it. That would be a mistake,” said MP Eric Botorel, who represents the Renaissance party founded by Macron.
The office of the Minister of Digital Change confirmed to France Inter radio on Wednesday that the shutdown of social networks is not under discussion. Instead, the government wants to convene lawmakers to consider how best to change the existing social media bill, a government spokesman said after a ministerial meeting this morning. He stated that the working group will consider possible legal instruments and clarifications that could be added to this law.
He said that it would be possible to suspend the functions of certain social networking sites. For example, some platforms have geolocation features that allow you to organize gatherings at a specific location.
Violent action videos or instructions on how to start fires are shared via social media. This can be considered as calls to organize public disturbances, and the government would need the authority to stop it, the cabinet representative said.
