Fake news about coup: President Macron angered by Facebook

“These people are mocking us,” says French President Emmanuel Macron about Meta Platforms. “They don't care about the balance of public discourse. They are making fun of the sovereignty of democracies (...) and thus putting us in danger.” The reason for Macron's anger is a video spread by Facebook, which pretends to be an excerpt from a news broadcast about a coup d'état in France.

In the face of an agricultural crisis, a military officer had taken power. The video is an AI-generated lie, but it is making waves. A concerned African head of state contacted Macron on Sunday, ironically via direct message on Facebook: “Mr. President, what is going on with you? I am very worried.”

At first, Macron laughed; he reported at an event in Marseille, but the video had already been played twelve million times on Facebook. To the request to block the video, Facebook replied, “It does not violate our terms of use. Block rejected.” The video has also been spread on TikTok.

The president sees increasing foreign influence on political discourse. He wants to counter this with new laws, both in France and at the EU level: “If there is content that obviously endangers public safety through false, destabilizing information, it must be possible to remove it.” Furthermore, platform operators should ensure that there is a real person behind every account -- Macron is therefore demanding mandatory identification.

Boy from Burkina Faso

In this case, mandatory identification would probably have led to a minor in Africa. The daily newspaper Le Monde has contacted the creator of the video. It is said to be a 17-year-old from Burkina Faso. The video was reportedly part of a series of AI videos with which he wanted to demonstrate his skills and promote his offer of relevant training.

“I'm a bit stressed and impressed,” the boy told them on the phone. He wanted to draw attention to himself and earn money. However, the consequences astonished him. “That wasn't my intention. I didn't want to get into politics. (...) I apologize because I don't want any trouble. I will continue to make videos to make people laugh.” However, he wants to distance himself from political content from now on. He himself took his video offline shortly after the newspaper's call.

(ds)