Rioting continues across France in the wake of the fatal police shooting of teenager Nahel in Nanterre last week just outside of Paris. As rioters continue to use social media to coordinate their attacks on shops and public buildings, French President Emmanuel Macron has made new comments that have some criticising him as authoritarian.
President Macron stated that he did not rule out cutting off access to various social media platforms after noting the role they have played in the rioting.
“We need to have a reflection on social networks, on the bans that must be put in place. And, when things get out of hand, maybe you have to put yourself in a position to regulate or cut them,” the French leader said, according to a report from the broadcaster BFMTV.
“Above all, we shouldn’t do this in the heat of the moment and I’m pleased we didn’t have to. But I think it’s a real debate that we need to have in the cold light of day,” he added.
Macron’s comments came during a meeting with a delegation of 220 mayors from across France on Tuesday, July 4th, at the Elysee Palace as many of the mayors had been targeted by the rioters.
In one case, the mayor of L’Hay-les-Roses, Vincent Jeanbrun, was targeted by rioters who rammed a car into his home, injuring his wife and one of his children. The rioters then set fire to the home.
The social media platforms Snapchat and Chinese-owned TikTok have been named as networks used by the young rioters, who have already caused around a quarter of a billion euros worth of damage, setting fires to shops, town halls, and other buildings.
Macron faced pushback over his remarks almost immediately from opposition politicians like Olivier Marleix, from the conservative Les Républicains, who said, “Cut social media? Like China, Iran, North Korea? Even if it’s a provocation to distract attention, it’s in very bad taste.”
The leader of the French Socialists, Olivier Faure, also invoked comparisons to totalitarian regimes saying, “The country of the rights of man and citizens cannot align itself with those great democracies of China, Russia and Iran.”
French government spokesperson Olivier Véran commented on the role of social media amid the rioting saying that the government had put pressure on companies to remove material that may encourage acts of violence and identify those behind the accounts.
“A young person should know he cannot sit behind his screen and write, organise or do whatever he wants. Anonymity in terms of offences doesn’t exist. You have to understand this can have consequences and the consequences can lead to punishment,” he said.
After six days of violence across the country, BFMTV states that the French Ministry of Justice has recorded a total of 3,625 arrests, of which 1,124 were minors under the age of 18. So far around 380 people have been incarcerated as a result of their role in the riots.
The riots are likely to have an economic impact on France as well, with a French Interior Ministry source claiming that the quarter of a billion euro damage estimate was “conservative” and the real amount could be far higher.
Thierry Marx, head of France’s hoteliers and restaurateurs association, noted how the riots have hurt France’s tourism sector saying, “Our hotel members have suffered a wave of cancellations of reservations in all the areas affected by the damage and clashes.”
He added that many members of the association also reported daily acts of vandalism and looting since the violence began last week.
