Macron compared to Kim Jong-un after proposal to ‘cut off’ social media in riots
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Emmanuel Macron has been compared to Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s authoritarian leader, after proposing shutting down social media to curb riots.
But political opponents were quick to condemn his proposal for social media blackouts as undemocratic.
“Cut social media? Like China, Iran, North Korea? Even if it is a provocation to divert attention, it is in very bad taste,” said MP Olivier Marleix, of the centre-right Republican party.
Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist party, also spoke out against the potential move, saying: “The country of human rights and citizens cannot align itself with the great democracies of China, Russia and Iran.
Mathilde Panot, a far-Left MP, went a step further, saying “OK Kim Jung-un” in a Twitter post highlighting Mr Macron’s remarks.
Objections were even raised from within the president’s parliamentary camp, with Eric Bothorel, an MP, saying that cutting off social networks would mean “giving up on the idea that democracy is stronger than the tools turned against it”.
Responding to the backlash, government officials appeared to backtrack on Mr Macron’s remarks on Wednesday. The office of Jean-Noel Barrot, the digital transition minister, told the France Inter radio station that cutting off social networks was “not on the table”.
French law currently provides little framework for the partial banning of social networks’ features, but a new tech bill is currently being debated in parliament. Mr Veran said the bill could be altered in the wake of the riots.
“Platforms and social networks play a considerable role in the movements of the last few days,” he said on Friday. “We have seen on several of them, Snapchat, TikTok, both the organisation of rallies taking place, but a form of mimicry of the violence.”
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