Illustration of the social network Twitch.

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STRF / STAR MAX / IPx / AP / SIPA

As the 2022 presidential election approaches, Twitch is rapidly becoming politicized, to the chagrin of users of this platform for video game fans, worried about this appropriation of a hitherto non-partisan space.

After

BFMTV's

first

chat 

on Twitch last week, which was overwhelmed with negative, even sexist or violent comments, a new controversy erupted this week.

In question this time, Samuel Etienne, journalist and host of

Questions pour un champion

, who is meeting with growing success on the streaming platform with his daily press review "The morning is yours".

Samuel Etienne accused of "rotting" the atmosphere on the platform

After a sticky discussion with François Hollande on Monday, which heated up the site's counters with a peak of 84,000 live spectators, he ignited the powder by announcing that he would organize an informal exchange with Prime Minister Jean Castex Sunday at 6 p.m.

Immediately, members of the Twitch community spread on social networks to criticize the initiative, accusing it of "rotting" the atmosphere on the platform by politicizing it, or even turning it into a receptacle for government propaganda.

Tomorrow Sunday 6 p.m., Prime Minister @JeanCASTEX will be your guest on Twitch.



YOUR guest, since you will be asking the questions!


Meet here: https://t.co/Ii9R8nTIPu pic.twitter.com/3MzUmaKq4e

- Samuel Etienne (@SamuelEtienne) March 13, 2021

Some even attacked the star streamer, accused of having introduced the wolf into the fold.

It is indeed this big fan of

Questions for a champion

, who introduced Samuel Etienne last year to the joys of Twitch.

“It's not at all the kind of live that I like”, but “I can't do anything about it”, he defended himself.

"I hear the anger of part of the community"

An agitation which forced Samuel Etienne to explain himself.

"I hear the anger of part of the Twitch community, for whom this space should be preserved from politics and even more from government speech", but "Twitch is a space of freedom", and "my bet, c 'is that (the platform) can be a tool for dialogue, exchange, debate, ”he pleaded.

But he triggered a second "bad buzz" by ensuring that it was out of the question for him to give voice to members of the RN ... Before going back and launching an invitation to Marine Le Pen, in the name of pluralism , while saying they want to ease off on political interviews.

Thread



Clarification regarding the invitation of a representative of the National Gathering on my Twitch channel.



Yes, I confirm that, because my values, my convictions, are not those of this party, I do not want to receive one of its members in my home, in my home.


But...

- Samuel Etienne (@SamuelEtienne) March 11, 2021

"Gamers have become a political audience to target"

"Internet users are already fed up when the 2022 campaign has just started," explains political communication expert Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet.

“Gamers have become a political audience to target, but they are allergic to any form of promotion and political communication, and they feel like they are being used politically,” he adds.

For him, "French politicians divert the raison d'être of social networks", by making it a communication tool, instead of "respecting the culture" made up of horizontal exchanges.

An offensive that goes badly, especially "after having spent several years talking about social networks as a threat".

On the contrary, the entourage of Jean Castex ensures that by speaking on Twitch, he wishes "to create a privileged discussion space with a community with which one does not have the opportunity to dialogue".

"The Prime Minister is happy to be able to make pedagogy on his action but also to answer very concretely, and individually to the questions, but also to the fears, to the interpellations also, of his fellow-citizens", argues to Matignon.

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Politics

Twitch, Clubhouse… Why politicians are launching on these “new” social networks

  • By the Web

  • Social networks

  • Jean Castex

  • Francois Hollande

  • Platform

  • Video games

  • Twitch

  • Samuel Etienne