Article published in politico.eu
French President Emmanuel Macron says online platforms and foreign media are the main drivers of the spread of disinformation in the country – and he wants to curb them.
"Online platforms, influencers and also citizens who sometimes occupy a significant place in the public debate, precisely through these new platforms ... must have a framework of accountability that has not yet been built," he said last Tuesday during his annual New Year's address to journalists.
"The same should apply to foreign media authorized to broadcast on French soil," the president added, in a clear allusion to Russian media outlets such as Sputnik and RT.
Macron's remarks were based on the conclusions of a report submitted to him earlier on Tuesday, which sets out guidelines for combating disinformation and conspiracy theories online. In late September, he tasked a group of scholars, sociologists, professors, journalists and historians to work on the issue, in a committee called "Enlightenment in the Digital Age" - a reference to the 18th-century French philosophical movement.
The speech comes at a crucial time for Macron, just months away from April's presidential vote, in which he is expected to seek re-election, and also amid strained relations with the press.
In 2017, Macron's campaign was attacked by Russian-backed hackers, and just a few weeks ago, his wife First Lady, Brigitte Macron, was the target of a conspiracy theory falsely claiming she was transgender.
As Macron's La République En Marche party, public authorities and politicians prepare for an election campaign expected to be riddled with disinformation, the French president hinted at a new approach to foreign media, supporting a "self-regulation" system similar to peer review, where the press industry identifies "trusted media".
“I say this with great seriousness: we are today a sometimes naive democracy… We allow propaganda actors funded by authoritarian foreign regimes – who do not respond in any way to a regime of journalistic responsibility or ethics – to inform and participate in debates as credible journalists,” he said.
In recent years, the French president has typically used his annual state of the press address to roll out new legislation related to media and information. This year, however, he has very little time before the election to ensure any new rules are fleshed out, but he hinted in his speech at possible future regulation if he is re-elected.
“On the issue of algorithms, we will need to collectively have debates and certainly regulations,” Macron said. He added that researchers should have more access to online platforms’ “data and algorithms” — something that is likely to become a reality through the EU’s Digital Services Act, a content moderation bill currently being discussed in Brussels and one of France’s priorities during its presidency of the EU.
Macron also promised the media that he would go after Big Tech companies again if they refuse to pay for news.
Hitting out at Google, the French president said Paris would ensure that the EU's copyright reform, which grants print publishers so-called neighboring rights, is truly effective - and would not hesitate to do more.
“We will supplement, if necessary, our French and European texts to ultimately achieve the goal that was ours and remains ours: the fair remuneration of copyright and neighboring rights,” he said.