Did social networks censor videos of the demonstration?

Did social networks tighten their moderation during the October 24 demonstrations? This is what many users of TikTok, X and even Instagram say. They accuse the platforms of having deleted lives, videos shot live from the demonstrations, or images posted just after the day of mobilization last Saturday. “Where are the videos from October 24?” asks a user. "I didn't go there, but I tried to find out what happened. There's nothing at all. It's just censorship. They are censoring all the videos, all the lives and all the images of large gatherings" he continues.

Other content creators accuse the platforms of having suddenly chosen to give less visibility to their publications. This is the case of activist Charlotte Ensaigne, who is widely followed on TikTok and Instagram. "If you don't see my content or that of your content creators involved in the October 24 demonstration, that's normal. We are experiencing "state shadow banning" she says. We talk about "shadow banning" when a platform stops recommending certain videos to users.

Did the platforms really censor?

There are many videos of the demonstrations of Saturday October 24, but the moderation was stronger. For the moment, only TikTok has detailed its policy for us. As for lives, the platform does not confirm having deleted live videos. However, it says it has “temporarily” limited monetization, that is to say the remuneration of this type of content. This would involve avoiding “the exploitation of this type of event for profit”. As for user recommendation tools, TikTok explains that it has banned certain terms when searching for content, in particular words that “actively encourage violence or criminal behavior”.

It is difficult to measure the precise impact of this moderation policy. However, the echo of the demonstrations on the networks was much less strong than on Saturday October 17. On TikTok: #October24 generated 121 million views, compared to 800 million for #October17. On Instagram, the number of views was divided by 9 between October 17 and 24. On X, the number of publications was divided by three. The October 24 protests were less violent than those of October 17, so they generated fewer viral videos.

Last Friday, on the eve of the demonstrations, the Prime Minister received representatives of the main platforms: Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Google. According to the press release published by Matignon, they are committed to reacting more quickly when the authorities alert them to content deemed problematic, in particular “calls for violence or looting”. According to Matignon, more than a hundred reports had already been made on Friday.