French president called new communication technologies a ‘poison for democracy’ amid rising yellow vest protests in the country
"The junction of social networks and TV streaming is a poison for democracy," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday at a small commitee, according to an article published on the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper on Sunday.
Macron, who is facing mounting criticism for not appearing in public as the "yellow vest" protests take over France, is to address the country on Monday evening, according to Elysee palace.
Anti-government protesters faced off with French riot police in Paris on Saturday, hurling projectiles, torching cars and vandalizing shops and restaurants in a fourth weekend of unrest that has shaken Macron's authority.
The “yellow vest” movement, whose supporters cut across age, job profile and geographical region, began online as an impromptu rebellion against higher fuel prices but has morphed into a broader outpouring of anger over the squeeze that living costs are putting on middle-class household budgets.
The movement’s members come principally from the hard-pressed middle class and blue-collar workers living outside the big cities, but it also has more radical fringe elements. It has no clear leadership, making talks all the more complicated for the government.
Their core demand is a freeze on further planned fuel tax increases — the next is due in January — and measures to bolster spending power. But they have also called for Macron to go, and many talk up the idea of revolution.
