2023-07-03 20:30:00
DISPATCH — The Ministry of the Interior spoke with the deputy director of the “Cerfia” Twitter account and asked him to try to “calm things down a bit”, to “get the good news across a bit and to calm the situation.” It is well received on the side of the young people, and it is “totally assumed” on the part of Beauvau.
As reported Release, it is in a recording dating from Saturday July 1 and published on Twitter that Pierre Delcombel claims to have been contacted by the spokesperson of the ministry. “It was a friendly exchange […] She didn’t come to me to say stop your videos“, he says. He saw this as “a desire to ease tensions” and ensures that “the Ministry of the Interior does not interfere with our tweets”.
For her part, Beauvau spokeswoman Camille Chaize “totally assumes” having wanted to “discuss their editorial line and the effects of mimicry”. She explains: “I think it made them think and that it can help calm the situation. It’s a group of students who are very followed by young people.”
Indeed, with 640,000 subscribers, the group of student volunteers is the second largest French media on Twitter, behind Médiavenir.
Finally, the two parties seem to have reached a deal: on the one hand, Cerfia assures that it understands its responsibility and undertakes to publish more “positive information”; on the other hand, the Ministry of the Interior undertook “to provide them with official information”.
On Twitter, Cerfia summarizes: “The Ministry of the Interior has contacted Cerfia about the riots in progress in France. He will send us official figures in order to process the information as well as possible. Cerfia nevertheless retains all its independence and remains free in its relay of information.”
Appeasement or censorship?
The Ministry of the Interior claims to have only contacted this media, and some of its competitors see it as a form of censorship.
Among them, quoted in the Liberation article in particular, @MoussaPerso rose up on behalf of his “AlertesInfos” account (292,000 subscribers):
In case my news media @AlertesInfos would be suspended following the article in Liberation devoted to @CerfiaFRplease subscribe to this account @MoussaPerso ! Like I said, I don’t bow to censorship. No to violence and no to censorship.
— Moussa (@MoussaPerso) July 3, 2023
If he was not contacted by the ministry, he assures: “Even if it was the case, I would not have accepted.” He also deplores that Twitter has censored several of his publications.
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