Accused of amplifying urban violence by allowing the massive dissemination of images of riots throughout France, platforms such as Snapchat, Tiktok or Twitter are in the sights of the government. The authorities are calling on social networks to put an end to the massive spread of the outbreak of violence that has affected the country since the death, on Tuesday in Nanterre, of the young Nahel. But with what chance of success?
“ 5 p.m. Creteil. We blow it all », « plan gloves, hoods and hammers », « today, 5 p.m. they will smash everything in Créteil », « meeting all at Créteil soleil at 5 p.m. “… From the start of the day on Friday, messages calling for people to go to the Créteil shopping center at 5 p.m. were circulating on social networks. And from the end of the day, on these same networks, images showing gangs of young people attacking a McDonald’s and other brands multiplied.
Since the start of the riots following the death of Nahela 17-year-old young man killed by a police officer during a control in Nanterre, in the Parisian suburbs, urban violence is relayed en masse on platforms such as Snapchat, Tiktok, Telegram or Twitter. On Snapchat, a social network very popular with young people, all it takes is a click on an interactive map to see in real time the places where the publications, videos of damage and clashes with the police are concentrated. have gone viral.
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“ Spreader of Wrath »
This virality of the riot is new compared to 2005. 18 years ago, during the violence that lasted three weeks after the death of young Zyed and Bouna during a chase with the police, social networks were almost non-existent. But today, they have become the sounding board for a movement which, starting in Nanterre, has spread to the whole of France at lightning speed. ” Today, social networks tell the story of young people’s lives. So it’s no wonder today’s riots invade them », explains Véronique Reille-Soult, author of The ultimate power – The hidden face of social networks. According to this specialist, the platforms have played a role of “ propagator of anger “.
The latter are therefore today in the sights of the French government, which denounces ” a form of mimicry of violence “and asks the platforms” organize the removal of the most sensitive content “. On Friday, a meeting took place between the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, that of Digital Jean-Noël Barrot and the digital platforms. They were intimately asked to ” actively engage in urgently removing posts reported to them and identifying social media users who participate in the commission of offences, and respond promptly to requests from authorities “.
A request to which Meta, Facebook’s parent company, responded, explaining that it had ” clear policies prohibiting content that incites hatred and violence on Facebook and Instagram “. A ” standby cell “has also been put in place” from the middle of the week “, according to the group. Same story at Snapchat, assures a spokesperson: “ When we find this type of content – either through proactive detection or when it is reported to us – we remove it and take appropriate action. “. And to add: We proactively review the Snap Map [la carte interactive de Snapchat, Ndlr] and specifically content related to the riots and remove content that violates our guidelines. »
The government also intends to attack those who use social networks to organize riots. During a press briefing this Saturday, the Minister of Justice Eric Dupont-Moretti confirmed this desire: “ I want young people to know clearly that the prosecutors in this country will look for the identity of the users of the networks, in particular Snapchat, which are for these young people a vector of communication to give the place, the moment and the target of aggression. Let no one think that behind these social networks there is impunity. »
“ We go ”freak accounts” young social media users », added the ex-lawyer, specifying that “ the judicial authority may ask the operators to deliver the IP addresses ».
” Utopian »
Despite this, the content on these platforms is not about to disappear. The president’s speech, then repeated on the TF1 newscast by the Minister of the Interior, is ” utopian “, according to Véronique Reille-Soult : ” Mr. Darmanin’s statements are symbolic, because the population needs to be reassured in the face of frightening and distressing images. »
” If you want to change things, you have to go through artificial intelligence given the volume of content published and I don’t know what criteria the platforms could put in place. It’s very complicated to configure an AI to censor this or that content », Analyzes the expert. And “ the only regulation that can work is censorship. Which is not a good solution “, she adds.
Also, can the platforms really moderate all this content that is pouring in from all over the country? ” To moderate, you need means and three quarters [des plateformes] don’t have them. Snapchat, for example, is not profitable and therefore for the company it is complicated », continues Véronique Reille-Soult.
Especially since these firms make money from their audience, ” so they have no interest in censoring it “. The day after the meeting with the French government in any case, the riots are even put forward. Events such as “the riots in Vénissieux” or “the damage following the riots in Marseille” are clearly visible on the Snapchat map, at the same level as the Garorock festivals and the Eurockéennes de Belfort.