DISINFO: France did not care when Twitter organised a colour revolution
SUMMARY
President Macron’s accusation that Elon Musk interfered in elections highlights Paris’ double standards. When X was Twitter and used to interfere in elections and organise the Arab Spring, Paris supported it. These operations led to the migration of hundreds of thousands of refugees to Europe, including France, and increased extremism and terrorism. The events in Egypt and Tunisia are still called “Twitter revolutions.”
Paris was not concerned by the encouragement of anti-Russian sentiment on social networks or calls to abolish Russian culture. Twitter’s refusal to comply with national laws and remove illegal content, including extremist content, was not criticised by European capitals. Now, Paris is suddenly worried because X's political orientation has changed.
RESPONSE
This a pro-Kremlin disinformation claim falsely equating the attempted interference of an influential social media billionaire in the political affairs of foreign countries with activists using social media platforms for political mobilisation.
French President Emmanuel Macron referred to "the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks", meaning Musk, and criticised his support of "a new international reactionary movement and intervening directly in elections, including in Germany". He did not refer to Twitter (now X) but to Musk in his personal capacity. Musk's involvement in politics and support of specific parties are public and known. On more than one occasion, he openly expressed political support for specific political groups during elections, most notably US president-elect Donald Trump, German AFD political party, as well as the UK Reform Party.
On the other hand, while social media outlets were used by activists to organize and mobilize during protests, there is no evidence that the outlets or their owners tried to influence political outcomes in elections, so-called colour revolutions or during the Arab Spring protests.
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