Emmanuel Macron has said the French government should consider controlling and cutting off social media networks “when things get out of hand” in the country.
The president’s comments came as ministers blamed young people using platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok for organising and encouraging rioting and violence after the shooting last week of a teenager during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb.
“We need to think about how young people use social networks … when things get out of hand, we may have to regulate them or cut them off.
“Above all, we shouldn’t do this in the heat of the moment and I’m pleased we didn’t have to,” Macron told a meeting of more than 200 mayors whose municipalities were hit by the violence.
“I think it’s a real debate that we need to have in the cold light of day,” Macron told the mayors in a video obtained by BFM television.
Critics said it would put France alongside authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in considering such measures.
Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist party, tweeted: “The country of the rights of man and citizens cannot align itself with those great democracies of China, Russia and Iran.”
Olivier Marleix, from the centre-right Les Républicains, added: “Cut social media? Like China, Iran, North Korea? Even if it’s a provocation to distract attention, it’s in very bad taste.”
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