French President Emmanuel Macron criticized social media networks on Thursday for his decisions to “suddenly turn off the microphone” as soon as they were sure that Donald Trump was stepping down, especially as he effectively “incited President Trump” during his presidency .
Why it matters: Speaking on an Atlantic Council forum, Macron said the decisions to ban Trump on platforms like Twitter and Facebook may have seemed sensible in the short term, but did not provide a “democratic response”. Other world leaders, like Germany’s Angela Merkel, have already raised similar concerns.
What is he saying: Macron added that great technology “killed all platforms where it was possible [Trump] and their supporters to express themselves. “
“I don’t want to live in a democracy where the main decisions … are decided by a private actor, a private social network. I want it to be decided by a law voted by its representative, or by regulation, governance, democratically discussed and approved by democratic leaders. “
– Macron
Between the lines: Apple and Google remove Parler from their app stores and Amazon has canceled hosting services for the platform, which were popular on the far right. Channels or Pro-Trump content have also been removed by Reddit, TikTok and others.
The big picture: Macron blamed social media platforms for fomenting political violence in France and the United States and noted that they were used to “promote the same demonstrations” that ended up leading to Trump’s ban.
- “The new violence in our democracies, largely linked to these social networks,” is now “our new way of life,” said Macron.