The French Government has been widely ridiculed over its fruitless efforts to ban common English words from being uttered in the country to protect French culture. Now, the French government has taken a break from the disastrous economy and various wars to ban the use of Twitter and Facebook on television or radio. It appears that the French experience with the Maginot Line has been forgotten.
The Sarkovy government is taking a stand on the basis of a 1992 decree which stipulates that commercial enterprises should not be promoted on news programs. It is probably completely a coincidence that the companies are non-French and even worst, founded by Americans.
Now, news sites cannot invite viewers to follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Indeed, in my upcoming three week trip to France with the family you will be able to follow the blog on “site formerly known a Facebook and Twitter.”
I love France (which is why I am taking the kids to France on their first international trip). Yet, the French government often seems to embody the most chauvinistic and reactionary elements of the country. That is not unknown for Americans who often watch in embarrassment at our own government in doing things like renaming French Fries as Freedom Fries in the Capitol. Nevertheless, fighting references to the world’s most used social networks is truly Quixotic and silly.
Nevertheless, Christine Kelly, spokesman for France’s Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA), insists that her government is merely trying to advance the free market by limiting the ability of news organizations to make decision in the free market: “why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition?” Well, the reason is that millions of people prefer these sites and news organizations are trying respond to the demand of their viewers.
Somewhere French Minister of War André Maginot is smiling . . .
Source: Daily Mail
Jonathan Turley
Gyges,
Upon sleeping on it, I think maybe Facebook is probably in itself more of a PKD creation although it certainly has Orwellian application.
Buddha,
I’d say Facebook has more in common with something out of a Philip K Dick book (Maybe Ubik or We Can Remember It for You Wholesale , than anything Orwellian.
One live to be of service, BB.
And the Enlightened One shall show you the light.
Thanks, I was confused. Probably cuz I saw both of them as ‘sharing’ ‘private data’, another false comparison.
So damn fb! Go Wiki! 🙂
“I plan to drink enough French wine to be immune from such concerns”
Now that is a “Maginot Line” we can believe in!
BB,
“Can one praise wikileaks, but condemn facebook… ?
I doubt it… Facebook is quasi-voluntary.”
Yes one can because comparing a whistleblower exposing potential crimes being hidden and committed under the color of authority to a voluntary social networking site that sells your data to corporate and government interests is a false equivalence.
One is performing a public service exposing corruption, the other is spying on you the citizen for the government and industry.
Can one praise wikileaks, but condemn facebook… ?
I doubt it… Facebook is quasi-voluntary.
I’m always willing to share anything with anyone, but there’s a HUGE requirement… they have to be reasonable people.
As we all know, sharing yesterday’s high-school prank with the neighbourhood cop can get you arrested before you know it.
Say what…..I have to almost ask what Facebook and Twitter are…but could not with a straight face….Don’t use em….as people have pointed out…too much personal info is able to be gained from the accounts………so the best I can say is with a straight face is….Why, are they…..but then I have been more private in my life than others….I guess…
“QUESTION: Do commercial enterprises advertise on news programs on radio and television in France?” (Elaine M)
Excellent! 🙂
“The Sarkovy government is taking a stand on the basis of a 1992 decree which stipulates that commercial enterprises should not be promoted on news programs.”
QUESTION: Do commercial enterprises advertise on news programs on radio and television in France?
Nal should get to go to France, too!
Facebook is a fad. This is no longer the 1990s when the rest of the world were simply e-consumers. Not any more. Asia, for example, already had huge social networks before Facebook, and FB will not be denting these. What is “social” in America is not in other parts of the world.
As BIL states, the giving up of personal information has been relegated to play-time activities. The only people I know personally that use it were already narcissistic, and it caters to their every preen and strut. It tends to enhance these parts of personalities, but luckily the facebook addiction means we do not see them much. Many will eventually grow up and realize sharing every detail = electronic haunting down the road. And, as hard as this is to believe, no one actually *cares.* How many unread diaries maketh one facebook?
Cops love it, you have to believe. What’s there to interrogate?
Three weeks?!
Will the guest bloggers be active during this period? I have a hard enough time coming up with weekend posts.
Indeed, I am looking at options. I hope to be able to blog a bit from France but I am not sure of access for all three weeks. We will be in the Bordeaux region for a week, the Normandy regions for a week, and Paris for a week. I am hopeful to avoid any interruption in postings. Of course, I plan to drink enough French wine to be immune from such concerns.
Facebook is Big Brother. You doubt this? Somehow a large corporation has gotten the idea in the public’s collective head that sharing all your personal data with them is not only a good idea, but somehow fun as well. A corporation that then mines and sells that very same personal data. A corporation with loyalty only to their P/E statements. Facebook gets you to spy on yourself. For free. Yet they are a 50 billion dollar company. Ask yourself how a company that gives away their product make that kind of bank unless they are a front. /end rant
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Twitter: short attention span blogging. #Twittersucks