PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron says he was “very upset” by the way social networks muzzled Donald Trump at the tail end of his U.S. presidency.
Speaking in a recorded video chat with scholars, Macron cited Trump’s example in arguing for more government regulation of social media platforms. The comments, which Macron made in English, were released Thursday by the Atlantic Council think-tank .
“At the very second when they were sure” that he would not hold onto power, platforms that had previously “helped President Trump to be so efficient” in making himself heard “suddenly cut the mic and put the mic on mute and killed … all the platforms where it was possible for himself and his supporters to express themselves,” Macron said.
“It was a unique answer to deliver, but it’s not a democratic answer,” he said.
After years of being outlets for Trump during his presidency, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter silenced his accounts during his last days in power, after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly insurrection on Jan. 6. Twitter permanently shut down Trump’s account, @realDonaldTrump, which had 89 million followers.
Macron said both the attack and the subsequent silencing of Trump’s accounts had been upsetting. He said more regulation of social networks is needed “to reestablish a public and democratic order in this new space where our people think, live.”
“I don’t want to live in a democracy where the key decisions and the decision to at the point of them cut your mic … is decided by a private player, a private social network,” the French leader said.
“I want it to be decided by a law voted by your representative or by a regulation, a governance, democratically discussed and approved by democratic leaders.”
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Does anyone still use fakebook/twitless? Yea, I know there are some who say “Oh I just use it to keep up with family “. STOP !!!! You are just giving the destroyers of our lives the funds to continue with their evil agenda.
AND IF those family, DON’T talk to you any other method, when there’s literally dozens of ways to do so, ARE THEY REALLY WORTHY OF KEEPING In contact with!?
Big Tech, in collusion, with the communists. Facebook and its 12 communist Chinese scientists, at its headquarters, developing algorithms to silence everyone. The “algorithms” of censorship, the “algorithms” of communism. Big Tech, plain and simple are traitors, but the politicians in Washington DC will do nothing, as they are bought and paid for by these traitors!
Many foreign have been sceptical of the big tech companies for some time, now it seems they had good reason. These companies had been subtlely initiating what is now seen as censorship or outright banning of speech. Soon something will break that could bring bring down the false narrative to explain this obvious reprehensible behavior by private companies and political powers.
Yeah I don’t want it “decided by a law voted by your representative or by a regulation, a governance, democratically discussed and approved by democratic leaders.” Leave the state out of it too. “Congress shall make no law… or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press”. Freedom of speech means exactly that and the First Amendment forbids the government from punishing people for that…
France and Macron may be much more an ally than any of us expected!
Your right. I was taken by surprise when I heard Macrons distain for Big Tech. He was the last person I expected to respond like he did.