Since the death of the teenager, many videos of riots or damage in cities in France, like Marseille, have been circulating on social networks, such as TikTok, Telegram or Twitter. Yasmine Buono, specialist in digital education, analyzes this phenomenon
A phenomenon of rare magnitude. Many videos began to circulate on Thursday, June 29 on social networks around 9 p.m. concerning the violence in Marseille following the death of Nahel killed by a police officer during a traffic check. We see individuals setting fire to trash cans, clashes with the police, but also degradation of windows and the Alcazar library.
Some accounts even offered to follow the course of the evening live, on Telegram, Twitter Snap chat or Instagram. Videos made in full action and for the most part violent.
On one of them particularly violent broadcast Friday, June 30, we see two individuals being violently beaten in a street not far from the St-Charles station. According Provence and a union source contacted by France 3 Provences-Alpes, it would be two police officers who were at that time off duty. They were targeted by around 20 people around 3:30 a.m. They are seriously injured.
Marseille is no exception, all the big cities of France have seen this kind of video surge since Nahel’s death. The President of the Republic, who announced the deployment of additional resources, pointed the finger “the considerable role” social networks in these events.
“We have seen the organization of rallies taking place on the platforms and observed a form of mimicry of violence, believes Emmanuel Macron. We will take several measures: the removal of the most sensitive content. Requests will also be made wherever useful to identify those who are exacerbating the violence.”
Twitter, Snap Chat or Instagram, these social networks are now ultra-fast distribution channels for delivering information, calling for a rally…
“They have the ability to instantly mobilize people. Calls for mobilization are made in stories, for example, by individuals who affect their communities, but the message can then be quickly relayed to others.“, attests Yasmine Buono, specialist in digital education.
Especially since some of these social networks have features that allow you to view where these incidents are happening. The many hashtags with their keywords on Twitter but also the Snap Map which allows you to geolocate your friends and see the stories of places where there is a large influx of people.
On social networks, violence is viral. Just look at the speed with which Nahel’s video was broadcast to realize the speed of propagation to Internet users on all social networks combined.
Yasmine Buono, who has studied social networks for fifteen years, explains that “violence shocks, it arouses emotion, anger, indignation. These are contents that will be put forward by the ecosystem of these social networks“. Since the confinement, specialists have seen a marked increase in violent videos and content.
“A violent video, it impacts the brain and all the more when the people concerned are young”, adds the specialist in digital education. Matignon announced in the middle of the day that the digital platforms are summoned at 6:30 p.m. for a meeting with ministers.
In all the riots and demonstrations that take place in France, young people occupy an important place, said Friday, the President of the Republic during his speech at the Interministerial Crisis Committee. “I call for parental responsibility. He adds:n third of those arrested last night are young or even very young“.
Yasmine Buono also confirms the circulation of violent videos by a young audience. “ There is no boundary between real life and digital life. They are used to social networks and they no longer ask themselves the question of distribution, they share everything.
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