Macron compared to Kim Jong-un after suggesting 'turn off' social media during riots

Emmanuel Macron's government has dedicated social media platforms to fuel unrest in France. Photo: Yves Herman/Pool/Reuters

Emmanuel Macron has been compared to North Korea's authoritarian leader Kim Jong-un after he suggested shutting down social media to curb unrest.

French president floated the idea of ​​shutting down platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok during outbreaks of major unrest, such as the protests that swept France last week following the killing of a teenager by police.

“We have to think about social networks, about the bans that we will have to introduce. When the situation gets out of hand, we may have to regulate or turn it off,” Macron said at a meeting of more than 300 mayors on Tuesday at the Elysee Palace.

Mr Macron’s government has singled out social media for inciting riots following the police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk on June 27, claiming they were used to organize and encourage violence and looting. » />

But political opponents were quick to denounce his proposal to shut down social media as undemocratic.

“Shut down social media? Like China, Iran, North Korea? Even if it's a provocation to divert attention, it's in very bad taste,» said MP Olivier Marlet of the center-right Republican Party.

Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, also spoke out against the potential move, saying: «The country is right individual and citizens cannot join the great democracies of China, Russia and Iran.”

Mathilde Panot, a far-left MP, went even further, saying «OK Kim Jong Un» in her Twitter post on Mr Macron's remarks.

Objections were raised even within the president's parliamentary camp, Eric Botorel, an MP, said turning off social media would mean «abandoning the idea that democracy is stronger than the tools against it.»

In response to the backlash, government officials appeared to back off on Mr Macron's comments on Wednesday. The office of Jean-Noel Barrault, minister of the digital transition, told radio station France Inter that the shutdown of social media was «not on the table.»

Clarifying Mr. Macron's position, Olivier Veran, a government spokesman, said the president had proposed not a «general shutdown» of platforms, but rather a suspension of features such as geolocation tools that help users meet in specific places. banning social media features, but a new technology bill is currently being debated in Parliament. Mr Veran said the bill could be changed after the riots.

As riots raged over the weekend, Mr Macron urged platforms to remove sensitive content, appealing to companies' «spirit of responsibility».

“Platforms and social media are playing a significant role in the movements of the last few days,” he said on Friday. “We saw on some of them, Snapchat, TikTok, both the organization of rallies being held and a form of simulated violence.”