‘Conspiracy Theorists, Extremists, Noise and Fury’ — Macron Takes on the Internet
Finally, the speech we’ve been waiting for from a leader of the free world who diagnoses ‘democratic fatigue’ and offers a path forward
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A Russian-born ally who risked his life to push for democratic freedom in his country sends me news daily from around the world.
Today, he sent me a clip from French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Friday blasted social media platforms for undermining democracies in Europe and demanded stronger online regulation.
Finally, the landmark speech we’ve waiting for — delivered passionately at an event celebrating the 35th anniversary of German reunification, held in Saarbrucken, the capital of the southwestern state of Saarland bordering France.
Addressing the ‘democratic fatigue’ across Europe, he compared the Internet to an arena of chaos:
“We have allowed a democratic public space to take hold, where people are all in balaclavas, anonymous, where the rule is rather that you have to insult the other person if you want to be popular. Where you don’t know in this public space. Imagine a big square. If you have real people or fake people. And where you give equal value to someone who screams much louder and tells you: ‘This vaccine is not a vaccine, what you’re telling me is false,’ and who spouts the worst falsehoods. We live in a public square that looks like that. How do you expect there not to be an immense democratic fatigue and people who are moving more and more towards a nervous breakdown?
“I’m going to put it in more direct terms: we had the immense naivety to entrust our democratic space to social networks that are in the hands either of big American entrepreneurs, or of large Chinese companies, whose interests are absolutely not the survival or the proper functioning of our democracies.
“If we Europeans do not wake up, to say, ‘We want to take back control of our democracies,’ I’m writing it to you: in 10 years, all those who are playing on or with this infrastructure will have won. And we will be a continent, like many others, of conspiracy theorists, extremists, noise and fury.
“If we believe in the democratic order, let’s put science and knowledge back at the heart, let’s put scientific authority back at the heart, let’s put the place of culture, education, learning back at the heart, let’s protect our adolescents and our young people from these social networks, let’s give these social networks rules so that they have, in a way, the same ones as the democratic space, that is, no hidden people, that is, no fake accounts that create false excitement, and let’s enforce the same rules.
“When you have a newspaper, you are responsible for what is published there. When you have a social network, you must be responsible for what is published there. Otherwise, it is racism, anti-Semitism, the hatred of the other that will triumph on our continent. We have the means to rebuild a 21st-century democracy, simply, this jolt is needed. It is up to us to do it.”
Auto-translated from his speech in French, you can watch the full speech here — captions available:
Note how aware he is of Russian aggression and why support of Ukraine with a 35-country coalition from Canada to Australia is so vital.
Macron was joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — both called for a strong resolve against the ‘dark enlightenment’ of ‘authoritarianism.’
Grateful to the leaders who are not burying their heads in the sand.
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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Thank you for sharing this speech by Macron. His description of how social media influences people in the worst way is perfect and his request for rules to manage social media is important.