https://gizmodo.com/twitter-uses-frances-own-fake-news-law-to-block-french-1833781703
The government’s #OuiJeVote, or ‘Yes, I Vote’ campaign was meant to urge voters to register for the upcoming European Parliament elections in a timely manner. To help with that, France’s government information services (GIS) had planned to pay for some sponsored tweets. Meanwhile, France passed a law in December that requires internet political campaigns to clearly disclose who paid for the ads and how much was spent. The new law follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts last year to hold tech giants accountable for their role in spreading misinformation and dubious propaganda.
Just one hitch. According to AFP, Twitter has no idea how to actually incorporate that information onto its platform. So instead of running afoul of the law, Twitter decided to just opt out of French political campaigns altogether.
The decision irked French officials, who, ironically took to Twitter to vent their frustration. MP Naïma Moutchou blasted the move as an April Fools’ joke and accused Twitter of lacking respect for France’s transparency law.
The government’s #OuiJeVote, or ‘Yes, I Vote’ campaign was meant to urge voters to register for the upcoming European Parliament elections in a timely manner. To help with that, France’s government information services (GIS) had planned to pay for some sponsored tweets. Meanwhile, France passed a law in December that requires internet political campaigns to clearly disclose who paid for the ads and how much was spent. The new law follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts last year to hold tech giants accountable for their role in spreading misinformation and dubious propaganda.
Just one hitch. According to AFP, Twitter has no idea how to actually incorporate that information onto its platform. So instead of running afoul of the law, Twitter decided to just opt out of French political campaigns altogether.
The decision irked French officials, who, ironically took to Twitter to vent their frustration. MP Naïma Moutchou blasted the move as an April Fools’ joke and accused Twitter of lacking respect for France’s transparency law.
