Samuel Fitoussi reveals he is behind the “Balance ton Claude” account and takes on the controversy

He came out of anonymity. Samuel Fitoussi revealed this Friday that he had hidden behind the X account “Balance ton Claude” which, on Monday, sparked controversy by accusing Thélyson Orélien of having used artificial intelligence to write his novel It Was That or Die (Grasset).

On his personal X account, Samuel Fitoussi writes that “Balance ton Claude” is “a collective project” and that “others will reveal their identity in due time if they wish”. The motivations for this “project” are linked, he argues, to the fear that “AI will cause the disappearance of reading and writing”.

A retweet that caused controversy

Questioned by 20 Minutes, “Balance ton Claude” declared Thursday that “The basic idea was to denounce the invasion of the AI-porridge, the slop, on the social network X. It is a work of digital health which primarily targeted this network. When disappointed and suspicious readers told us about Orélien's work, we scanned it and broadened our initial objective. »

As of Monday afternoon, the account was followed by fewer than 100 people. A few hours later, the tweet evoking It was that or die was retweeted by… Samuel Fitoussi. He took the opportunity to share one of his articles in which he predicts that “soon, no human will write anymore”. It was by giving visibility to the post of “Balance ton Claude” among his approximately 30,000 subscribers that Samuel Fitoussi brought it out of confidentiality and caused the controversy to go away. This Friday morning, “Balance ton Claude” is followed by more than 10,300 people.

Samuel Fitoussi is a 39-year-old essayist and columnist for Le Figaro. In particular, he published Woke Fiction in 2023 in which he claims to demonstrate “how ideology changes our films and series”. Interviewed at the time by La Revue des Deux mondes, a media outlet with a radical line for which he also wrote columns, he believed that “woke fiction always portrays the West very negatively: it would be fundamentally racist, homophobic and patriarchal. In this type of production, non-White characters, women and homosexuals constantly encounter obstacles linked to their identity. »

“No regrets”

“Neither Orélien’s political ideas nor the theme of his book mattered to us,” assures Samuel Fitoussi on X this Friday. It Was That or Die tells the journey through twelve countries of a Haitian, Jonas, who flees his country mired in gang violence. Thélyson Orélien denies having used AI for his novel. The Canadian-Haitian author told Libération that he had suffered “numerous racist attacks” since his arrival in France. They come not from readers, but from “outsiders who seek to cause harm”.

On Wednesday, “Balance ton Claude” called for “taking it easy on the attacks” towards the Canadian-Haitian author. But, to 20 Minutes, account X admitted to having “no regrets”. And added: “It was impossible to raise a controversial subject publicly without it causing malice. »

Investments in AI

Samuel Fitoussi is also a member of the editorial committee, alongside François-Xavier Bellamy, of Civilization. This new quarterly media, whose first issue is announced for October 1, claims to be “affiliated with no political movement” and promises to “bring together conservatives and liberals.”