Three nights of urban riots relayed en masse on social networks: TikTok, Snapchat and others are in the crosshairs of the government, which denounces “a form of mimicry of violence” and asks platforms “to organize the withdrawal of content more sensitive”.
“Fires and tensions after the death of Nahel”,
On Snapchat, a social network popular with young people which notably offers an interactive map to indicate in real time the places where the publications are concentrated, videos of degradations and clashes with the police have gone viral.
“On social networks, it was going on a loop saying we are uniting to go and attack the police. It was not as coordinated as they would have hoped, but it was a reality”, lamented Jean -Marc Luca, departmental director of public security for Essonne.
Faced with this phenomenon, Emmanuel Macron said on Friday expecting a “spirit of responsibility” from the major social media platforms, where “violent gatherings” are organized and which “also arouse a form of mimicry of violence.
It is in this context that a meeting between the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, that of Digital Jean-Noël Barrot and the digital platforms took place at the end of the afternoon.
“The ministers notably reminded the platforms of their responsibility for the dissemination of these publications”, indicates a press release from Place Beauvau.
And to ask them to “engage actively to urgently remove the messages that are reported to them and identify the users of social networks who participate in the commission of offenses, and to respond promptly to the requisitions of the administrative and judicial authorities”.
For its part, Meta explains that it has “clear policies prohibiting any content that incites hatred and violence on Facebook and Instagram”.
“We are in constant contact with the French authorities and we set up a monitoring unit in the middle of the week to act as quickly as possible”, continues the press release from the group, attached to AFP.
Almost the same tone at Snapchat: “When we find this type of content – either by proactive detection or when it is reported to us – we delete it and take the appropriate measures”, assures a spokesperson to AFP.
“As of Tuesday, we have been proactively reviewing the Snap Map and specifically riot-related content and removing content that violates our guidelines.”
“It would be a mistake to (focus) too much attention on this, to choose social networks as scapegoats for a phenomenon which is ultimately a social and democratic crisis”, tempers with AFP Leïla Mörch, governance expert of the internet and moderation of online content.
“Social media ignites it, puts it in an even stronger light. It’s really a distorting mirror of reality. But, in this case, they are absolutely not the cause. In 2005, there is no had no social networks and the riots had lasted as long as we know”, she adds.
Faced with the urgency of the situation, what to do?
“At times like this, we can only react hotly by deleting content en masse to avoid feeding a kind of circle of hatred. But it is draconian and therefore it is only a solution at very short term”, which we reuse “every time there is a crisis”, warns the researcher again.
The French Parliament voted on Thursday requiring platforms like TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram to verify the age of their users and parental consent when they are under 15.
In theory, social networks are not open to people under 13. But the first registration would occur there on average around eight and a half years and more than half of 10-14 year olds are present there, according to data from the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL).
06/30/2023 21:42:12 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
