Amid more than a week of unrest in France, President Emmanuel Macron said the government should consider monitoring and shutting down social media during unrest, when "everything gets out of the state's control."
The Guardian writes about it.
The head of state's statement came in response to comments by French government ministers who accused young people of using platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok to organize and encourage riots and violence.
“We need to think about how young people use social media… when things get out of hand, we may need to regulate or turn them off. First of all, we shouldn't do it in the midst of events, and I'm glad we didn't have to," Macron said during a meeting with the leaders of 200 cities whose municipalities were affected by the actions of the protesters.
The French president considers such a debate "necessary in light of the events that are happening now."
The statement of the head of the Elysee Palace was mercilessly criticized by French politicians. The leader of the Socialist Party of France, Olivier Faure, wrote on his Twitter that France, as a "country of human and civil rights", cannot join the big "democracies" like China, Russia and Iran.
The leader of the center-right Republican movement Olivier Marlet also opposes President Macron and believes that the closure of social networks in China, Iran or North Korea looks "like a provocation to divert attention" and has a "very stupid taste".
On June 27, mass protests broke out in many French cities after a police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old boy named Nachel in a suburb of Paris.
A police official said the teenager allegedly refused to comply, but a video that later appeared online contradicted his version and prompted thousands of people to take to the streets. Later, the 38-year-old police officer who fired the fatal shot was charged with premeditated murder and arrested.
President Macron has twice called an emergency meeting of the government to resolve the crisis situation in the country. During the riots, 45,000 police officers were mobilized, and more than 1,600 protesters were detained.
