Social networks are again under the magnifying glass, this time in Francewhose president blames TikTokSnapchat and other platforms for helping to spread the large unrest sparked by the death of a 17-year-old driver, shot by a police officer.
On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron accused social networks of fulfilling a “substantial role” by encouraging acts of violence as the country tries to quell protests that have brought to the surface simmering tensions between police and youth in the country.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said police arrested 917 people on Thursday alone. More than 300 policemen have been injured in the attempt to suppress the riots sparked by the death of the teenager of North African descent, identified as Nahel.
Macron, who at one time lashed out at video games for the riots, said his government would work with social media to remove the “more sensitive content” and identify users who “They call for disorder or exacerbate violence.”
WHAT IS SO WORRYING THE GOVERNMENT?
A French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity from the presidency, cited as an example the publication on social networks of the name and address of the agent who killed Nahel. A corrections officer has seen his professional license posted online, the official said, hinting that this would endanger his life and that of his family.
In his speech on Friday, Macron did not clarify what kind of content he considered “delicate”, but said he expected social media platforms to show a “spirit of responsibility”
The government has started talks with Snapchat, Twitter and other social networks to speed up the process of removing content that incites violence, the official added. The government is also pushing for people who call for violence to be identified, but this is still in the stage of “discussions”.
Darmanin said he warned social media not to be used as a channel for calls for violence.
“They were very cooperative,” assured. “Tonight we will see if they really are.”
The authorities will give social media companies “all possible information” so that they, in turn, identify people who incite violence, Darmanin said Friday. The authorities “They will persecute anyone who uses these social networks to commit violent acts.”
He added that they will take “All necessary measures if we find out that social networks, whoever they are, do not abide by the law.”
WHAT DOES THE FRENCH LAW SAY?
France has a law against cyberbullying. Threats of crimes such as rape or murder, as well as insults, can be punished. However, it is actually very unusual for it to be applied.
In 2020, Parliament passed a law that would force platforms and search engines to remove prohibited content within 24 hours. A year later, a court convicted 11 of 13 people accused of harassing and threatening a teenager who had harshly criticized Islam in an online message, but only those who could be identified were charged.
WHAT DO THE SOCIAL NETWORKS SAY?
Rachel Racusen, a spokeswoman for Snapchat, one of the social networks accused by Macron of contributing to the riots, said that since Tuesday she has stepped up vigilance to detect content related to violence and take the corresponding measures.
“Violence has dire consequences and we have zero tolerance for content that promotes or incites hate or violent behavior anywhere on Snapchat.”Racusen noted. “We proactively monitor this kind of content and when we find it, we remove it and take action. We do allow content that objectively reports on the situation.”
But other platforms have been silent. TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Twitter simply responded automatically with a poop emoji, as it has done for months under Elon Musk.
HOW DO SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS USUALLY RESPOND?
Platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter often police people who promote violence because it is against their own standards.
But they also remove material posted on their platforms to comply with local laws and government requests. This can sometimes be controversial, as happened in May in Turkey, where Twitter complied with a government request to censor material during the election campaign.
Snapchat says on its website that it cooperates with the police and government agencies to complyr “valid orders” of information that may aid investigations.
The company receives many orders throughout the year. According to its most recent transparency report, for the second half of 2022, the largest number of requests came from the US government, followed by the UK, Canada and Germany.
France submitted 100 emergency requests for information, including to identify account owners by email address or phone number. The company said it supplied “some data” in 54% of the orders.
The transparency report TikTok for the same period shows that it received fewer than 20 orders from the French government. Removed or limited content or accounts in 86% of cases.
Hany Farid, an expert in digital forensics at the University of California at Berkeley who resigned from TikTok’s US advisory board in January, said that if a government requests that certain material be removed because it violates local law, most networks will abide by the request.
But he added that the feasibility of the orders also depends on the platform, as well as the breadth and rationale of the order. if a government “Ask for deletion of tens of thousands of messages, you could meet with greater resistanceFarid said.
Emma Llansó, director of the Freedom of Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, points out that while it is appropriate for online services to remove texts that actually incite violence, they must be careful, especially with excessively broad requests.
In an intense political debate or in the midst of public outrage, adds Llansó, since people tend to use very passionate or “allusions to violence” even if you do not have the slightest intention of inciting or committing violent acts.
“What young people in France are doing right now is protesting against state violence, which is a crucial type of political activity”says Llansó. “And so the way social media responds right now has a huge influence on people trying to find their political voice. It’s an incredibly difficult decision.”
Source: AP
Source: Gestion
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