It is a historic decision that is the subject of debate.
Friday, January 8, three days after the riots on the Capitol in Washington, the Twitter account of US President Donald Trump was permanently closed by the platform itself.
In the process, the Republican was banned from various social networks, including Facebook, Snapchat, or even Twitch.
In France, these unprecedented decisions puzzled some members of the government, who disapproved of them on Monday morning.
Read also: United States: the story of our special envoy inside the Capitol
Invited on France Info, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, indicated that she could "
understand the reaction of social networks
", but she seemed divided on the approach of Twitter.
Although she shares the desire to "
regulate
" and "
say stop
", the ecologist believes that such an initiative "
cannot be a normal reaction.
""
We must have democratic processes to regulate the functioning of platforms and social networks, and that must be the subject of political debate.
(...) The norm cannot be that a social network decides on its own to cut itself
”, she developed.
Also read: Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Snapchat ... On which networks is Donald Trump blocked and for how long?
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said he was "
uncomfortable with this decision
".
At the microphone of Europe 1, the Secretary of State recalled that he shared the objective of "
combating hate speech, against publications which call for violence
", while expressing reservations about the method adopted .
"To
ban a person, that is to say to silence him on social networks which have become a form of public space, seems to me more complicated, at least in the absence of specifically established criteria
", he specified.
And to continue: “
This decision seems quite easy to me.
Donald Trump is at the end of his term.
I do not know, if he had been re-elected, if these networks and these GAFAs
(Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Editor's note)
would have taken such a decision.
"
"The regulation of digital people is necessary"
While the government's latest legislative proposal to combat hateful content on the internet - the “Avia law” - has been censored by the Constitutional Council, Gabriel Attal said the government is “
trying to find solutions
” to try to to stem this scourge despite everything.
"
This is a problem that has emerged in recent years at the global level, which concerns all countries,
" he added.
Even more decided on the question, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire finally said he was “
shocked
” by the situation.
“
The regulation (...) of digital cannot be done by the digital oligarchy itself,
” he insisted on France Inter.
“
The digital oligarchy is one of the threats hanging over states and democracies.
The regulation of digital people (...) is necessary and can only be done by the sovereign people, by States and by justice.
He breathed.
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