‘Pure Bullsh*t’: Macron Attacks Free Speech In Push For More Government Control
French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized unrestricted free speech, calling it “pure bullshit,” as his government seeks to expand its power to regulate speech more broadly, both online and offline. Across…
French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized unrestricted free speech, calling it “pure bullshit,” as his government seeks to expand its power to regulate speech more broadly, both online and offline.
Across Europe, countries including the UK and Germany are considering social media bans for minors, citing concerns that the platforms are harmful and addictive. In early February, French authorities raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X as part of a years-long criminal investigation into alleged algorithm manipulation and the spread of illegal content.
“Having no clue about how their algorithm is made, how it’s tested, trained and where it will guide you — the democratic consequences of this bias could be huge,” Macron said Wednesday during a visit to India.
“Some of them claim to be in favor of free speech — OK, we are in favor of free algorithms — totally transparent,” Macron said. “Free speech is pure bullshit if nobody knows how you are guided to this so-called free speech, especially when it is guided from one hate speech to another.”
emphasized his desire for a “transparent road through these different speeches” to safeguard “public order,” adding, “I want to avoid a racist speech, hate speech.”
Macron’s crackdown extends beyond social media. Just days earlier, he proposed that those convicted of anti-Semitic or other racist acts and remarks should automatically lose eligibility to hold public office.
“For the future, I would like to see a mandatory penalty of ineligibility introduced for anti-Semitic, racist and discriminatory acts and comments,” Macron said on Friday, according to the Brussels Signal. “Schools, the justice system and the whole of society must be mobilised, including the state, the government, all public services and everyone in the Republic.”
He condemned far-left anti-Semitism, which “seeks to replace the class struggle with a supposed racial struggle,” and far-right anti-Semitism, “with its clichés about power and wealth.”
In its national security strategy released in December, the Trump administration pledged to fight foreign efforts to “censor our discourse,” warning that the U.S. would cultivate “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”
The U.S. in December imposed visa bans on a former European official and activists for policing so-called “hate speech,” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing the move as a pushback against the “global censorship-industrial complex.”
Macron predicted this month that the U.S. would, in the coming months, “attack us over digital regulation,” adding that the Trump administration could hit the EU with tariffs if the bloc used its Digital Services Act (DSA) to assert control over U.S. tech companies.
The DSA, which took effect in 2024, is a sweeping EU law that imposes strict requirements on platforms to police content deemed harmful by government authorities.
In January, the European Commission opened an investigation into X under the DSA, examining whether the company adequately assessed risks associated with its AI chatbot Grok before launching it across the EU’s member states. EU officials said the probe will examine whether Grok facilitated the spread of illegal content, including sexually explicit images.
The AI chatbot has faced criticism for generating non-consensual sexual images, including those of minors. Grok acknowledged in posts on X that it had produced such content and cited “lapses in safeguards.”
As part of DSA enforcement, a German court on Tuesday ordered X to grant researchers access to data linked to Hungary’s April 12 election, amid a major political challenge to close Trump ally Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The French Foreign Ministry did not respond to the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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