The stabbing attack committed by a Syrian refugee on Thursday morning on children in a park in Annecy has gripped the entire political class. So much so that all the debates around pension reform have taken a back seat. Quickly, the government put itself in battle order in the face of the horror of this tragedy that has engaged the vital prognosis of several victims. While the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior went directly to Haute-Savoie to meet with the competent authorities, the Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications was forced to clean up Twitter.
The attack having been filmed, some videos of the assailant holding a knife circulate on the social network. Jean-Noël Barrot therefore indicated that the executive was "in contact with the Twitter teams to ensure the removal of any shocking image." "I recall that their dissemination is punishable by law," recalls the member of the executive. It was also an opportunity for the Minister to recall the procedure.
When a user identifies a video that seems problematic, he can report it on the Pharos government platform. While several post-attack excerpts were widely shared on social networks and continuous news channels, a video of the criminal act could be viewed by some media. The government wants to avoid any overly broad exposure of the latter, which should however be useful to the judicial and police authorities.