Emmanuel Macron proposed throughout a press convention on the Élysée Palace on Tuesday (16 January) new guidelines for reducing youth display screen time in a bid to forestall the spreading of conspiracy theories on-line.
For the second time since Macron was first elected in 2017, the president held a press convention with lots of of journalists on the Élysée Palace, the place he detailed his politics and priorities.
“If we have now acquired youngsters and future residents whose relationship with the reality has been wrongly constructed or constructed by way of social media, the road between fact and falsehood is blurred. There’ll be a technology of conspiracy theorists!” warned Macron.
The French President introduced that the federal government will determine on potential “prohibitions” and “restrictions” for underage individuals based mostly on a Fee report that might be delivered in March.
Based mostly on the “scientific consensus” delivered within the report, the president needs to proceed combating faculty bullying, pornography publicity and unsuitable usages of expertise.
Referring to the EU regulation on content material moderation, the Digital Providers Act (DSA), whose textual content was agreed upon through the 2022 French rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, Macron mentioned: “Europe is main on this subject. […] content material suppliers have been made accountable.”
The French president underscored two legal guidelines he considers complementary to kids’s safety. He talked about the 2018 French regulation forbidding using smartphones inside faculties and the 2022 regulation, which obliges the pre-installation of parental management software program on related gadgets bought in France.
July 2023’s riots
Coming again to the riotous interval France skilled in July 2023 after the web unfold of a video displaying a policeman shoot and allegedly kill 17-year-old Nahel M., Macron mentioned: “Screens performed an important position that we had by no means seen earlier than.”
“In a couple of minutes, we skilled the unfolding of lots of of actions and organized appointments on numerous social networks by way of screens. There was a type of mimicry that led to an totally unreasonable ignition.”
Analysing the interval, Macron mentioned he noticed a conjunction of points, together with city renovation, training, entry to tradition, sports activities, financial alternatives, integration, idleness, and poverty.
He neither talked about his proposition to dam social media throughout crises nor member of parliament Paul Midy’s proposition to finish on-line anonymity, each of which had been extremely criticised on the time.
Put money into the youth
To this finish, Macron repeatedly mentioned that “order and progress” make a fairer society.
“The republican promise is that of equal alternatives,” he continued, saying he would work along with his authorities to deepen entry to tradition and sports activities additional but additionally change individuals’s mentalities so that everybody appears like partaking with tradition and sports activities.
Macron additional developed easy methods to put money into the youth. He plans to strengthen “civic instruction” programs, enhance arts, creative and cultural courses and create a diploma award ceremony, a “ritual of the Republic’s unity.”
The president didn’t point out digital training, digital consciousness or cyber-hygiene programs on this plan for the youth.
Requested by the viewers if he didn’t really feel like his politics might appear outdated, he answered: “I don’t suppose symbolism is old school.”
[Edited by Luca Bertuzzi/Alice Taylor]
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