French Government Calls Emergency Meetings With Platforms Over Protests

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TikTok and eBay were among six online platforms summoned by the French government this week, as authorities sought to contain widespread rioting and looting and prevent the resale of stolen goods.

Anne Le Hananff, France’s minister of digital affairs, convened representatives from social media firms on Tuesday for an emergency meeting, after their platforms were blamed for fanning the flames of the worst civil unrest the country has seen in years. The goal of the meeting was to remind platforms that they need to moderate content on their sites, including livestream video, to avoid violent content or anything that could encourage people to break the imposed curfew, according to French TV station BFM.

A review by WIRED of TikTok found that the search term “blocus”—meaning blockade in French— showed videos that were potentially altered or AI-generated, including viral images of a protester in a Pink Panther costume.