A proposal that is sure to provoke a reaction.
Former Minister of National Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem pleads for “large-scale political action” aimed at “rationing the Internet”, in an article published Monday in Le Figaro.
Let us free ourselves.
I know this subject is rarely discussed like this, but do we really want this influence of the Internet on our lives?
An invitation to think about it.
https://t.co/TB3rRFRH25
— Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (@najatvb) March 18, 2024
“I would like us to think concretely about ways to ration the Internet, for example by granting a limited number of gigabytes to be used daily,” she suggests in this column.
A restriction particularly applied in China for minors.
“Three gigs per week”
Minister of National Education from 2014 to 2017 under the presidency of François Hollande, now director of the NGO fighting extreme poverty ONE, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem believes that the Internet is “less often a solution than a aggravating factor ".
Listing the harms of overexposure to screens or social networks, she asks: “do we need that much Internet?
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She thus invites the State to “ration the Internet”.
“A major political action”, which according to her would have “beneficial consequences on many levels”, notably for health, but also “to fight against discrimination, harassment, global warming”.
“If we know that we only have three gigabytes to use over a week, we are probably not going to spend them posting hateful comments or making fakes
,
” believes the woman who is also president of France Terre d’ Asylum.
The former minister also sees it as a “profoundly progressive” measure, allowing for example “to deal with one of the major sources of pollution – digital technology”.
“There is a digital emergency just as there is a climate emergency.
It is not about sending additional satellites into space, but about pulling the plug, turning off our screens, and finally starting to live again,” she concludes.