Regulation of online content: "trust is shrinking" with Meta, Google and X, laments Emmanuel Macron

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP 18:35 p.m., November 10, 2023

"Trust is shrinking" with the platforms Meta, X (formerly Twitter) and Google in their mission to regulate online content, Emmanuel Macron criticized on Friday in Paris, at the opening of the 5th summit of the Christchurch Call, on the fight against terrorist and violent extremist content. For Meta and Google, "the fact that no 'top manager' was available either in New York in September, or here in Paris, means that they don't want to play anymore," the French president lamented.

52 moderators for X in French

Among the companies represented on Friday afternoon at the Elysée Palace were X, Amazon, Dailymotion, Microsoft, OpenAI and Qwant. But neither Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, nor Google, of which YouTube is one of the main services. "When I am told that there are 52 moderators for X in the French language, I find it difficult to consider that the content is moderated," when there are "330 million French speakers" in the world, he continued, before ironically: "these 52 people are geniuses or have a lot of work."

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"The second people are no longer serious, we become less cooperative," he said. "When companies that had committed, had told us great things, organize themselves not to be there and don't do what they said, trust is reduced, especially when others continue to do the job," Macron added. "TikTok is not around the table because we need to clarify statuses, but they already have 687 (moderators). I say this to create competition, good competition," he said.

The French head of state is chairing the 5th summit of the Christchurch Appeal, launched with New Zealand after the attack in this New Zealand city in March 2019, to better "fight against terrorist and violent extremist content online".