The danger, we regularly write in these columns, comes from Moscow and Beijing. From Putin and Xi Jinping, two autocrats hostile to the West. And their allies, the useful idiots, the convinced, the local despots, the enemies of freedom… On January 6, 2021, the assault on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters, however, sounded the alarm. American democracy was in turn threatened by an attempted insurrection from within, led by an outgoing president refusing to accept his defeat at the polls. An attack widely relayed on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network.
Four years later, the real estate mogul is back through the front door. On January 20, he will swear on the Bible, becoming, at the age of 78, the 47th president of the United States. In reality, his mandate has already started, judging by his incessant speeches and those of his current ally, Elon Musk. If the boss of Tesla and X is not vice-president, it’s just like: the brilliant South African entrepreneur, with his 212 million subscribers on our democracies.
Our leaders are paralyzed
Four years ago, people said about Trump: he is crazy. Today, people whisper: he and Musk are dangerous. And not only because Donald Trump promised to pardon the 1,250 rioters of January 6, 2021. But because the project of the new tandem in power consists of subjugating Europe. Commercially, politically, legally, militarily… The words of the future vice-president, JD Vance, are unambiguous in this regard: “We must say that American power comes with certain conditions. One of them is respect of freedom of expression, particularly among our European allies.”
The United States, champions of freedom of expression: this is the new Trumpian mantra, to justify all manipulations of information on social networks and to call for dismantling the regulations put in place in Europe to try to control them . The war is on, but it is already lost on the European side. Who has heard the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in recent days defending the European measures put in place only a few months ago (Digital Services Act and Digital Market Act)? Our leaders, paralyzed, barely dare to move an ear, for fear of repercussions on the commercial level or in military support.
“The platforms have become toxic, alert David Colon, researcher and teacher at Sciences Po and author of The information war (Tallandier). Since the advent of generative AI, this toxicity has been multiplied, putting our democracies in mortal danger.” What a parade for Europe, to escape the venom spread by social networks, if not to create its own virtuous social network ? Far from the malicious algorithms of TikTok, Meta, or X. It’s one minute to midnight.
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