Teacher assassinated: France goes to war against cyberislamism

Haro on the networks.

Four days after the assassination of history professor Samuel Paty, beheaded on Friday October 16 in the middle of the street in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north-west of Paris, because he had shown caricatures of Muhammad to his students, the The executive points to the responsibility of social networks in the radicalization of certain individuals.

In the days leading up to Samuel Paty's death, messages and videos calling for the history professor's suspension were widely disseminated on the Internet.

The terrorist claimed responsibility on Twitter and posted a photo of the victim, who remained online for nearly two hours.

An eternity on the scale of social networks.

However, according to article 6.1-2 of the law for confidence in the digital economy, the social network must act "promptly".

A vague term that poses a problem.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, 

The Minister Delegate for Citizenship therefore decided to convene Tuesday, October 20 at the Ministry of the Interior the bosses for France of the major platforms - Facebook, Twitter, Google, TikTok and Snapchat - in order to find ways to better counter the " cyberislamism ".

"The Islamist ideology is spread a lot on social networks. A whole generation of young people do not become radicalized by going to a radicalized mosque, or by meeting or going to prison, explained Marlène Schiappa on RTL. No, they are radicalized at home, all alone, in their room, in front of their phone or a computer screen, on social networks. "

🔴 This morning, I am bringing together social networks & platforms at @Interieur_Gouv and appealing for their responsibilities against cyber-Islamism!

We asked the Permanent Contact Group to meet urgently to improve the process between social networks and the State.

pic.twitter.com/CwiTPddqdL

- 🇫🇷 MarleneSchiappa (@MarleneSchiappa) October 20, 2020

The minister makes the correct diagnosis, believes Raphaël Liogier, sociologist and author of the book "The war of civilizations will not take place" (CNRS Éditions).

"The extremization of individuals is systematically done by means of instantaneous media that are social networks. Just as this shift takes place instantaneously and not according to a long process of religious radicalization as we too often tend to say. , was able to observe the professor in the course of his research. There is no territorialization of Islamization either since the ideology is disseminated everywhere on Internet. The terrorist does not change because of his district or his origins Terrorists are above all frustrated individuals, sexually or in a situation of failure (professional or otherwise), who seek revenge by marrying what society is struggling against, that is to say Islamism. An ideology easily found on social networks. "

The profile of the jihadist shows once again that terrorism committed in the name of Islam no longer has any connection with concrete religious engagement, that the concept of “religious radicalization” is a false trail that cannot be identified. and stop criminals in time

- Raphaël Liogier (@raphael_liogier) October 17, 2020

To fight against cyberislamism, the State has had since 2009 the Pharos platform (Platform for harmonization, analysis, cross-checking and orientation of reports) which receives reports from Internet users.

After verification, the police and gendarmes of Pharos alert the competent services so that an investigation can be opened under the authority of the prosecutor.

Freedom of expression at stake

Problem: this device does not always allow you to quickly erase content deemed illegal.

It is also very difficult to control what is exchanged on the Internet in terms of individual freedoms.

The bill put forward by Laetitia Avia, which aimed to fight against hate speech on the Internet, was thus challenged by the Constitutional Council because it infringed on freedom of expression.

Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, proposes for her part to create a social networks police.

"We must put sufficient guarantees in the law to allow censorship of social networks when they infringe our most fundamental freedoms", she said Monday morning on Public Senate, on the sidelines of the 16th Congress of Regions of France, in Saint-Ouen.

Les Républicains (LR) MEP Geoffroy Didier and ex-LR president of Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand, for their part, plead for the partial lifting of anonymity on the Internet with the obligation to reveal his identity to the host .

But then again, it seems that ending anonymity is contrary to freedoms.

Social networks also have a share of responsibility.

Anonymity for those who advocate terrorism on these social networks must be lifted much more quickly.

# RepublicanOffensive #LeGrandJury pic.twitter.com/EXhwNyOVxh

- Xavier Bertrand (@xavierbertrand) October 18, 2020

Treat the cause, not the means

In the entourage of Marlène Schiappa, it is argued that beyond the devices for reporting and blocking illegal content, it is also necessary that the State is not absent from the Net and organizes a "counter-speech" to respond to hate speech.

We must go further, say some observers of questions of Islamization.

"It is above all necessary that political leaders stop fueling controversies around fundamentalists such as the issue of the veil or the burkini for electoral purposes, repeats repeatedly Raphaël Liogier in the media since 2015 and the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Because they create from scratch a war that becomes the object of desire of all those who want to attack society. Politicians are much more responsible for the Islamization of society than social networks themselves, which are only means ", concludes the sociologist.

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR