Social media blackout, USA News (Paris): France’s Prime Minister called for a social media blackout before another day of mass protests. Nearly 1,000 arrests have been made, with around 70,000 French police officers deployed to tackle the violent unrest on French streets. Officers fired tear gas at left-wing protesters during the demonstrations. It has now emerged that France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu wrote to telecommunications companies, urging them to shut down social media sites before the violence unfolded on Saturday.
Mr Lecornu said a convergence of several protest and activist movements resulted in the disturbing scenes seen in France. He stated that individuals took advantage of the resulting disorder to smash, damage, set fire to, ransack and loot. The French Prime Minister, reappointed by Emmanuel Macron last October, blamed social media platforms for the chaos. He said clearly that several social media platforms played a decisive role not only in the crystallisation and viral spread of unlawful slogans but also as tools for the operational coordination of violence during the demonstration.
Mr Lecornu, in his letter first reported by the French outlet Blast, urged four telecommunications companies — Orange, SFR, Free, and Bouygues Telecom — to impose a social media blackout in the event of urban violence. The French Government wanted to shut down Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram as named in Mr Lecornu’s letter. Elon Musk-owned X was added to the list after the letter was sent, local media reported.
France’s protests began as a student-led movement demanding further investment in the education system. Pupils were furious about the lack of teachers and having to study in dilapidated buildings. But the protests have now spread far beyond Paris and their original purpose. On Saturday, violent unrest hit Italy, Spain, and Albania, with arrests made in all three countries. Protesters clashed with police in Turin, Rome, and Bologna, where tear gas was deployed to disperse crowds. Italian police said at least 371 people were detained and nine were arrested.
In Spain, a total of 100 people were arrested in Barcelona alone after hooded rioters looted shops and set fire to street furniture around the city’s central Plaza de Catalunya. Spanish authorities said around a quarter of those arrested were minors. In Albania, videos showed one officer being set on fire after what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail was thrown by protesters calling for the resignation of the country’s Prime Minister. Rioters set government buildings and banks on fire, smashed shop windows and pulled up paving stones to hurl at police.
