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The post-truth in the era of "yellow vests"

Hate content and "fake news" are increasingly present on the internet, social networks and sometimes even news channels. To the point of worrying the government.

This is unusual for a member of the government: Secretary of State for Equality between Women and Men, Marlene Schiappa, published on his Twitter account sexual insults and threats of death she receives every day, she says, online or by phone. So the minister did not just complain. " To say nothing is to cover, " she justifies. But to take back on his account all the mud carried by his name, is it not necessarily exposed to splashing? Do we imagine a minister quoting on the radio the insults of the anonymous letters she receives in the exercise of her office? No, of course, because the power must always place a notch above those who insult him anonymously, if he wants to be respected. Unless the goal is political: by exposing the most vile attack to everyone, we expose ourselves as a victim and we reflect the hatred, at the risk of contributing to the hysteresis of spirits.

This episode is indicative of the rising tension in the mobilization of "yellow vests", as it becomes less popular. Journalists threatened or even violated, deputies insulted .... " The social movement has gradually been won by an unacceptable revenge ," writes Le Monde on January 9. The question of what to show is at the heart of the debate. Is it necessary, against all odds, to give priority to live broadcasting like BFMTV, which continually follows the clashes between "yellow vests" and the police, including when a policeman is boxing? Or should we dismiss the most violent images like LCI the day Macron was copiously insulted at Puy-en-Velay? To discuss, the CSA has gathered Thursday the bosses of channels, including Russian Today (RT), who made the buzz by interviewing a "yellow vest" eager to put Brigitte Macron I quote " naked on a pile of pallets " . Which led Marlène Schiappa to seize the CSA.

The fake news are also at the center of the ambient hysterization. Attack organized in Strasbourg, pact of Marrakech to lead to the great replacement of the French, foreign CRS to repress the "yellow vests" ... The craziest untruths circulate on social networks to rally people to a cause or enrich factories clicks. Faced with this, Facebook and others maintain the Internet in their bubble of beliefs and the info has more and more difficult to make a place in the middle infox.

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