Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, France’s President Emmanuel Macron criticized social media companies over their pledged commitments to free speech and lack of algorithm transparency.
“Some of them claim to be in favor of free speech. We are in favor of free algorithms, totally transparent,” Macron said. “Free speech is pure bulls**t if nobody knows how you are guided to this so-called free speech.”
The remarks come as Macron and his government move to expand regulation of social media platforms in France. Paris is seeking to fast-track legislation that would ban social media access for children under 15 before the start of the next school year, alongside a planned prohibition on mobile phone use in French high schools beginning in the 2026–2027 academic year. Macron warned of the influence of what he called “Chinese algorithms.”
Those new steps by France follow the EU’s own censorship measures under the Digital Services Act, which created legal punishments for online “hate speech” throughout Europe.
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