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NEW DELHI: French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized social media companies and their technology executives, accusing them of falsely presenting themselves as champions of free speech. Speaking at the AI Summit being held in the national capital, Macron said, “Some of them claim to be in favor of free speech. We are in favor of free algorithms, totally transparent.”“Free speech is pure bullshit if nobody knows how you are guided through this,” Politico quoted him saying.“All the algorithms have biases, we know that. There is no doubt. And they are so impactful, when you speak about social media, that having no clue about how the algorithm is made, how it is tested and where it will guide you — the democratic biases of this could be huge,” he added.Over the past decade, European Union lawmakers in Brussels have rolled out sweeping legislation aimed at curbing the power of major technology platforms. Landmark measures such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act were designed to strengthen privacy protections, rein in anti-competitive behavior and impose stricter obligations on content moderation. Washington, however, has framed elements of these laws as incompatible with US constitutional protections for speech. The dispute has since widened into a broader political clash, with American officials and several tech companies warning that Europe’s rules verge on censorship. European leaders counter that the regulations are necessary to tackle illegal content, disinformation and platform abuses. Among the most vocal has been Macron, who has repeatedly called for tighter limits on social media access for younger users — a stance that is gaining traction across parts of Europe as public concern over online harms intensifies.
