Emmanuel Macron is facing a backlash after he threatened to cut off social media networks as a means of stopping the spread of violence during times of unrest.
The Guardian he says:
Elysee officials and government ministers said Wednesday that the president was not threatening a "general blackout" but instead an "occasional and temporary" suspension of the platforms. The president's proposal came as his ministers accused young people who use social media such as Snapchat and TikTok of organizing and encouraging riots and violence after a teenager died during a traffic control in a Paris suburb on last week.
But critics say that considering such measures would put France alongside authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Speaking after a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, government spokesman Olivier Veran said a cross-party committee would be set up to consider an amendment to a cybersecurity law currently in parliament. Veran mentioned that a young person needs to know that he cannot sit behind his screen and write, organize or do whatever he wants.
Anonymity regarding offenses does not exist. Veran said.
The "offences" used as a term is of course very general, as someone else could describe them as demonstrations, by a people reacting to brutal police brutality.
We have already heard many different EU and American leaders criticize Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he implemented such measures.
But all these are signs of the times.
Online and satellite surveillance, facial recognition, censorship, but also the collection and use of our biometric data to track and crack down on anyone, has become tredy. Personal liberties are limited, privacy is at stake and freedom of expression should be scrutinized with a microscope, like a son.
The reason, of course, is always the safety of society as a whole and not the crackdown on dissidents.
How could it be, after all, we have a democracy.
Ideas dear columnist. Ideologies.
"The president's proposal came as his ministers blamed young people for using social media."
Don't include the term "youth" when you're talking about someone burning another sufferer's property just because they can. He is not "young", he is a vandal. Don't include the term "youth" when referring to someone who shoots a stranger just because he's wearing a police uniform. He is not "young". He is a criminal murderer. Just as those who set fire to Marfin in the marches for the forgiven Grigoropoulos were not "young people", nor were they those who blocked the road to the fire department shouting "burn - burn". They were not "young". They were and are cold-blooded killers. Either they wear a hood, or they don't.
After all, as we have seen recently in our country, the majority of young people have turned their backs on ideologies and on the fringes.