Social networks pose a growing “challenge to our democracies,” Marine Tondelier has claimed.
Marine Tondelier, secretary-general of The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens, has called for the social media platform X to be banned across the European Union, at least during election periods, arguing that it plays a role in shaping public opinion in ways that can threaten democracy.
Speaking on RTL’s Le Grand Jury program on Sunday, Tondelier expressed concerns about the influence of social media on democratic processes amid heightened tensions between the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, and EU officials who accuse the US-based billionaire of meddling in European politics.
“It’s not a question of freedom of expression; it’s a question of shaping public opinion,” she claimed. Tondelier highlighted the growing concentration of media ownership in France and globally, accusing “ultra-rich individuals” of trying to “buy power” once they accumulate enough wealth.
Le réseau social Twitter n’est pas seulement pénible mais il aussi dangereux.
La question de le quitter se pose bien évidemment, mais ne suffira pas : il faut l’interdire.#HelloQuitteX pic.twitter.com/rzmjyw29Lh
— Marine Tondelier (@marinetondelier) January 12, 2025
“We also need to take social media into account in this calculation now. It is part of the fabrication of opinion. It has a grip on reality. It impacts election results,” she stated. “It’s dangerous because it’s a challenge to our democracies,” she added, suggesting a ban on X during sensitive periods, such as elections.
“The social network Twitter is not only annoying but also dangerous. The question of leaving it obviously arises, but it will not be enough: it must be banned,” she wrote in a post on X.
Tondelier also urged her partners from the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) coalition, which won the most National Assembly seats in this summer’s legislative elections, to migrate to alternative networks.
“I’m going to leave, but what are the others doing? It will still have an impact on reality. It will still contribute to destabilizing the upcoming elections,” she said.
Musk provoked major controversy by claiming in December that “only the AfD can save Germany,” a statement some EU officials denounced as unacceptable foreign meddling. This followed an op-ed piece published by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, in which he defended the right-wing party’s policies. Last week, Musk hosted an interview on X with Alice Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor in the upcoming German election.
Musk also clashed with former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, referring to him as “the tyrant of Europe,” after Breton appeared to endorse the cancellation of Romania’s presidential elections, warning about potential foreign interference in the upcoming German polls.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot recently voiced concerns about Musk’s influence, urging the European Commission to take a firmer stance and use existing mechanisms against alleged external meddling. Breton clarified that his remarks were aimed at ensuring compliance with the EU’s Digital Services Act.
In recent weeks, the South African-born tech mogul also criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of failing to tackle the Pakistani grooming gang issue and refusing to properly investigate the mass rape of underage girls while he was head of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013. He also urged Washington to step in and “liberate” the Brits from their “tyrannical government.”
And what about the jewish Daniel Kretinsky buying french tittles such as ” Le Monde” and ” Marianne” ? And for Marianne sacking the actual director to put a ” chosen” in her stead.
What about ” Liberation” in the hands of an ” ex ” mossad ?
What about the jew Drahi ” owning” ( is bankrupt) many tel and TV channels.
Drahi and kretinski are not even french.
The truth is politicians like very much to keep the population in ignorance.
French media are in the hands of jews for the most of them. Be it owners or journalists. But of course not ” advertised”
You know then what to expect.
As for Tondelier a ” non entity”. But she is strident .
For “our democracies”, they mean corporate fascism.
“This isn’t about freedom of speech…”
☝️As soon as they utter this line, they should be publicly tarred and feathered. Immediately.
Politicians should be TERRIFIED to even think those words out in their minds. They are the weak argument of every tyrant who’s ever lived, and we ALL had our absolute fill of that BS during their Covid scam.
Imagine trying to make the case (with a straight face) that public opinion (democracy) is “dangerous to democracy” 🤦🏼
“We shouldn’t allow social media to shape public opinion 😱”
No, we should let government, academia, print media, television and Hollywood do that since they’re all so unbiased, right? No wonder she’s a climate nutjob, she must have a single digit IQ. Hopefully her wretched little fingers never get anywhere near the levers of power.
Years ago, when I lived in the UK, I wondered why if national lottery (gambling) can be done so easily with electronic machines at most supermarkets and shops, why cannot mini referendums be done in the same way? Why can the people not exercise “democracy” (Demos Cratis – people power) as easily as the government encourages them to gamble? Why could this not be done every week? It should be easy!
We have all this technology literally at our fingertips and yet the only way that we can really influence the trajectory of our society is every few years at the ballot box where we vote for deliberately polarized viewpoints that are designed to divide us (Roman Empire – “divide and conquer”).
The Buddha say, “With your thoughts you make the world”. I must admit I learnt that from ‘Monkey’, a Japanese TV production that chronicled the spread of Buddhism from India to China. The social media space called “X” allows for freedom of speech which is really freedom of thought that is written down.
The EU leaders do not like this in the most fundamental sense because they do not respect the will of the people. They are against humanity and our divine wishes and intent and really do not like us thinking for ourselves.
And i forgot something noteworthy about the French ” green” party represented by this woman
It is them, together with the german ” grüne” who acted to have many of the French nuclear plants closed. Nuclear plants that were delivering cheap electricity you see.
And the germans did not like it because it gave France an industrial advantage So the pretext of Fukushima was very welcomed. ( yea, the EU is all about jealousy and lousy move to exterminate a concurrent : was sold to the population as a way to have ” peace”).
“Shaping people’s opinions”?
If politicians can’t “shape” people’s opinions, they enforce them with legislation.