France riots: Macron leaves EU summit early, says social media must help quell unrest

France President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday (June 30) that social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat should cooperate with French authorities to contain the violence which has erupted in France after the killing of a 17-year-old boy by a police officer.

"Social media platforms play a significant role in the events of the past few days,"Macron said in televised remarks from a government emergency meeting.

Macron mentioned TikTok and Snapchat and said that social media helps rioters organise the riots and such posts also contributed to "mimicking" behaviour by some youngsters.

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"It sometimes feels like some of them re-live in the streets the video games that have intoxicated them," he said.

Watch | Violence & arson grips France

Macron said that the government will work with social media networks towards withdrawing "the most sensitive types of content". He also said that the government was asking social media companies to disclose to French authorities the identities of "those who use these social networks to call for disorder and promote violence".

Macron on Friday, rushed back to France from a Brussels summit to preside over a crisis meeting.

The situation

The French president said that a total of 492 structures have been damaged, 2,000 vehicles have been burned and 3,880 fires have started nationwide.

The nationwide unrest in France has come in the wake of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel. The death of a youth of North African origin has revived grievances about policing and racial profiling.

Around 40,000 police and gendarmes -- along with elite Raid and GIGN units -- were deployed in several cities overnight, with curfews issued in municipalities around Paris and bans on public gatherings in Lille and Tourcoing in the country's north.

Also Read | France riots: 600 people arrested, 200 cops left injured as violence continues on third night

But in spite of the massive security deployment, there were reports of violence and damage in multiple areas.

The latest figures from the interior ministry on Friday afternoon showed that 875 people were arrested overnight. More than two hundred police officers were injured, but none of them seriously.

Rioting apparently linked to the Paris police shooting had even followed Macron to the Belgian capital, with Brussels police reporting 63 people detained late Thursday for setting fires and erecting barricades.

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