Flanked by regulators, law enforcement and Clara Chappaz, the minister overseeing digital affairs and artificial intelligence, Bergé began the meeting in an ornate government office with a nearly five-minute tirade accusing Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube of not doing enough to combat influencers posting sexist and violent content.
“The time for irresponsibility is over,” said Bergé, whose full brief includes gender equality and the fight against discrimination. “The Republic expects more than just intentions from you. It expects results. From now on, you must and will be held accountable in a regular, transparent and public manner.”
Chappaz and her team didn’t disagree with the overall message of Bergé’s tirade, but objected to her maximalist demands and attack-dog tone — and they weren’t alone. Granted anonymity to candidly discuss the meeting, several people in the room told POLITICO they had been floored by Bergé’s decision to turn the meeting into a political spectacle.
“This is never the way we worked with the government in France,” said a representative of a platform present at the meeting.
Another industry employee there said it was the “most damning proceeding I’ve seen since I started doing this job.”
The meeting yielded few tangible results and strained the relationship between the French government and Big Tech, an industry that French President Emmanuel Macron has long considered an ally.
