Emmanuel Macron has said the French government should consider controlling and cutting off social media networks âwhen things get out of handâ in the country.
The presidentâs comments came as ministers blamed young people using platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok for organising and encouraging rioting and violence after the shooting last week of a teenager during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb.
âWe need to think about how young people use social networks âĻ when things get out of hand, we may have to regulate them or cut them off.
âAbove all, we shouldnât do this in the heat of the moment and Iâm pleased we didnât have to,â Macron told a meeting of more than 200 mayors whose municipalities were hit by the violence.
âI think itâs a real debate that we need to have in the cold light of day,â Macron told the mayors in a video obtained by BFM television.
Critics said it would put France alongside authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in considering such measures.
Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist party, tweeted: âThe country of the rights of man and citizens cannot align itself with those great democracies of China, Russia and Iran.â
Olivier Marleix, from the centre-right Les RÊpublicains, added: âCut social media? Like China, Iran, North Korea? Even if itâs a provocation to distract attention, itâs in very bad taste.â
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ontrol-social-media-during-unrest-macron-says