Paris (AFP)
The permanent suspension of US President Donald Trump's Twitter account is justifiable but "asks fundamental questions" about the "regulation of public debate," said Secretary of State for Digital Cédric O in a tweet on Saturday.
"The closure of Donald Trump's Twitter account, if it can be justified by some form of emergency prophylaxis, nonetheless raises fundamental questions," says MO
"The regulation of the public debate by the main social networks with regard to their only T & Cs (general conditions of use), while they have become real public spaces and bring together billions of citizens, it seems at least a little short from a democratic point of view ", continues the minister.
For Cédric O, "beyond online hatred, we need to invent a new form of democratic supervision".
Twitter move in the name of "risk of further incitement to violence" by outgoing US president after hundreds of his supporters attacked Congress in Washington sparked widespread backlash in class French policy.
"Let us resist the Gafa coup and the frightening post-democratic era they are establishing. The defense of freedoms, especially digital freedoms, will be a central issue in the presidential election!" assured in a tweet the vice-president of RN Jordan Bardella.
Another far-right MEP, Jérôme Rivière, also using Twitter to communicate, points out that the account of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is still active on the social network and denounces "Islamogauchist platforms with totalitarian overtones".
For the socialist senator Rachid Temal, Twitter's decision "raises the question of the role and will of the public power in the face of these tools which allow the best and the worst" and calls for the establishment of an "interstate authority".
Lastly, for LREM deputy Aurore Bergé, "we can fight Trump and the chaos he caused but refuse to rejoice in seeing the Gafa decide alone, without the judge's control, without possible recourse".
© 2021 AFP