France’s Macron calls for social media regulation to contain ‘threat to democracy’

The French leader scolded technology companies – without naming them – for giving former President Donald Trump a platform to “spread hatred” for years before taking action. Twitter Inc.

banned Trump’s personal account after the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, citing the risk of further incitement to violence. Facebook Inc.

announced a temporary suspension of Trump after the riot before extending that action indefinitely.

“All those who allowed President Trump to succeed waited until they were entirely certain that he no longer had the power to get involved with dignity and now say, ‘Let’s take your whistle out,'” said Macron. “Why didn’t they close their accounts before all this happened?”

Macron said governments have delegated too much authority to technology companies to expect them to act as administrators of Western democracy. “This is a real international regulatory issue,” said Macron.

The French leader made the remarks at his first meeting with the international media since he contracted the coronavirus in late December. Mr. Macron was sitting in a golden ballroom in the center of a table that stretched the length of the room, wearing a black turtleneck.

An old mechanical clock ticked while Mr. Macron philosophized about how Western democracies under the influence of social media were experiencing “a form of anthropological mutation”.

Mr Macron said it was shocking to see images of an extremist dressed in a far right suit inside the Capitol “in the heart of power”.

“But the spread of this image has the effect of replication – like the virus,” said Macron, referring to the pathogen that causes Covid-19.

Macron said France is battling similar upheavals, from the yellow vest protest movement to its years-long struggle against Islamic terrorism. In October, a high school teacher was beheaded after class by an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin. The attacker went to school after watching a video on social media of a Muslim father criticizing the teacher for showing his cartoons of Prophet Muhammad from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

In recent months, the Macron government has closed mosques and other associations suspected of practicing “Islamic separatism”, which Macron considers a campaign supported by religious extremists to undermine the institutions of the French republic. Opponents of the crackdown have accused Macron of stigmatizing France’s Muslim community, which is one of the largest in Europe.

Macron said he was acting in defense of France’s model of citizenship. What makes a person French, he said, is the acceptance of reason, freedom and other 18th-century Enlightenment values.

Islamic ideologists are trying to create a wedge between members of France’s Muslim community and the French state, Macron said, adding that the French sometimes compromise their Republican values ​​out of sensitivity to religious belief.

“We have a real crisis in France’s integration model,” said Macron. “Political correctness today threatens the primacy of the citizen over the believer.”

Macron also opined on tensions in the Middle East, saying France could play a role in engaging regional powers like Israel and Saudi Arabia to support any push to revive the 2015 international agreement to contain Iran’s nuclear program. In 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement, making it even more difficult to implement.

Macron said time was running out because Iran was due to hold presidential elections in June. “There is a window of opportunity between now and the elections. I think we need to take advantage of it. “

Write to Stacy Meichtry at [email protected] and Noemie Bisserbe at [email protected]