Macron has declared war on free speech

"Emmanuel Macron says Europeans should stop relying on social media for their news and turn back to traditional public media. Speaking in Paris on Wednesday, he said people were "completely wrong" to use social networks for information and should instead depend on journalists and established outlets. Social platforms, he argued, are driven by a 'process of maximum excitement" designed to "maximize advertising revenue," a system he said is "destroying the foundations of democratic debate.""

"He accused X of being "dominated by far-right content" and added that the platform was no longer neutral because its owner had "decided to take part in the democratic struggle and in the international reactionary movement." TikTok, he warned, was no less dangerous. Macron called for "a much stronger agenda of protection and regulation in Europe" to rein in what he views as the excesses of social networks."

"Macron is urging Europe to "take back control of our democratic and informational life." This is not the first time that he has spoken in such terms. France and its allies, he warned, have been "naïve" in allowing their public debate to be shaped by foreign-owned platforms and algorithms that no longer respect neutrality. To counter what he calls "a crisis of information," he wants a new "European agenda of protection and regulation.""

Europeans are urged to stop relying on social media for news and to return to traditional public media. Social platforms operate on a process of maximum excitement that maximizes advertising revenue and undermines democratic debate. Platform X is described as dominated by far-right content and no longer neutral after its owner intervened in political struggles. TikTok is identified as similarly dangerous. A stronger European agenda of protection and regulation is proposed to rein in social network excesses and to reclaim control of democratic and informational life from foreign-owned platforms and opaque algorithms.

Read at The Spectator World