Prominent Publisher Quits Social Media But Does Not Surrender, Joins Others
instrument of pressure
News outlets have been in a quandary over big tech, largely social media but also artificial intelligence (AI). For several this is a free speech issue, others hope to seize tech advantages. All of this is mixed with tech bro personalities, some being media proprietors. Many, too, are diving into heavy thoughts.
Prominent French daily Le Monde this week exited its relationship with social media portal X, formerly known as Twitter. Other media outlets, not only French, have made their decisions in recent weeks, sometimes for love, usually for money. In November several prominent dailies - The Guardian (UK), La Vanguardia (Spain), Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) - were joined by major French regional outlet Quest-France separating from X/Twitter. “Unless it becomes a regulated space that respects people,” said Quest-France chairman Francois-Xavier Lefranc to news agency AFP (November 20), “we will not return.” Within news publishing circles, these exits were noticed.
Le Monde editorial director Jérôme Fenoglio vigorously explained the decision in a Monday (January 20) opinion piece. In particular, he noted the relationships between the tech bros, owning social media outlets, and newly installed US president Donald Trump. He quoted French philosopher Charles Montesquieu on the political virtues of fundamental democracy. M Fenoglio did not hold back.
“This unprecedented alliance not only poses a major threat to US democracy, the devastating consequences of which Montesquieu foresaw, but also a far-reaching confusion between general and private interests,” opened M Fenoglio, “Made up of media and social platform owners, this ‘oligarchy’ of ‘extreme wealth, power and influence,’ in the words of outgoing president Joe Biden on January 15, who was unsuccessful in opposing it, also represents a global threat to free access to reliable information.” He noted the “parastatal position” of Elon Musk, owner of X/Twitter, SpaceX and Starlink, within the “de facto heart of power” along with Meta Platform (Facebook) owner Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon/Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.
“As a social media specifically focused on news, Twitter, now X, has always represented a major stake in this battle,” he explained. “The battle for control of the narrative quickly became so vehement that the microblogging site ceased to be a place for debate many years ago. But since Musk's takeover, the platform has been moving in a different direction. The billionaire has transformed it into an extension of his political cause, a form of libertarianism increasingly close to the far right. He has turned it into an instrument of the pressure he wants to put on his competitors or on Europe's social-democrat governments.”
“This mix of ideology and business has continued to make Le Monde, like most other traditional media, increasingly invisible. This has prompted us to reduce our publications on X to a bare minimum – an automated feed. Today, however, the intensification of Musk's activism, the formalization of his position within the Trump power apparatus and the increasing toxicity of the exchanges led us to come to the conclusion that the usefulness of our presence weighs less than the many suffered side-effects. We have therefore decided to stop sharing our content on this platform for as long as it operates in this way and to recommend that Le Monde journalists do the same.”
“We also hope that the European Union will not compromise on its definition of a public debate with rules that respect participants, the information that circulates and the opinions that it nurtures,” he concluded. “This is an essential condition if we are not to be drawn into the serious abuses threatening American democracy at the dawn of Trump's second term in office.”