Tag: YELLOW VEST

Facebook to Hand Over Users’ Info to French Govt For ‘Hate Speech’ Prosecutions

By Chris Menahan

Facebook is going to work in concert with the government of France to rat out its own users so they can be prosecuted for “hate speech.”

The move comes just three months after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged a “privacy-focused” overhaul of the social network.

From Reuters, “In a world first, Facebook to give data on hate speech suspects to French courts”:

In a world first, Facebook has agreed to hand over the identification data of French users suspected of hate speech on its platform to judges, France’s minister for digital affairs Cedric O said on Tuesday.

O, whose father is South Korean, is one of French President Emmanuel Macron‘s earliest followers, and has been influential in shaping the president’s thinking on Big Tech as an advisor at the Elysee palace in the first two years of Macron’s presidency.

The decision by the world’s biggest social media network comes after successive meetings between Zuckerberg and Macron, who wants to take a leading role globally on the regulation of hate speech and the spread of false information online.

So far, Facebook has cooperated with French justice on matters related to terrorist attacks and violent acts by transferring the IP addresses and other identification data of suspected individuals to French judges who formally demanded it.

All French citizens are to be treated as terrorists now if they hold the wrong opinions.

Following a meeting between Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of global affairs, and O last week, the social media company has extended this cooperation to hate speech.

“This is huge news, it means that the judicial process will be able to run normally,” O told Reuters in an interview. “It’s really very important, they’re only doing it for France.”

O, who said he had been in close contact with Clegg over the last few days on the issue, said Facebook’s decision was the result of an ongoing conversation between the internet giant and the French administration.

Since his nomination as minister in March, O has made the fight against hate speech online a key priority through regular contacts with Facebook’s top executives, including founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Buzzfeed reported in March that Macron had begun working with Facebook to “solve” it’s “deep-rooted anti-Semitism problem.”

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From Buzzfeed:

France — home to the world’s third-largest Jewish population — is in the middle of what Macron has described as being the worst period of anti-Semitism since World War II, and much of it is playing out online.

Calling for a “collegial approach” to regulation last November, Macron announced what he called an “unprecedented field experiment” with Zuckerberg to take French officials behind the scenes of content moderation process. After reviewing the tools Facebook uses to evaluate and take down offensive and violent content, Macron said, policymakers would work with Facebook to “jointly develop specific and concrete proposals to fight offensive and hate content.”

[…] Just after Macron announced his partnership with Zuckerberg last November, the Yellow Vest protests exploded onto streets across France. The movement tapped into deep-seated anger at economic stagnation among the French middle class, but it transformed into a political force through Facebook groups that were also hotbeds of conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic abuse, and anti-vax misinformation.

[…] The Yellow Vest movement helped unleashed a new wave of anti-Semitic abuse. President Macron was called a “whore of the Jews” by commenters who seized on his work for the Rothschild Bank. People in the Yellow Vest groups also shared videos by Dieudonné, a comedian who has been convicted of many crimes over the past 15 years, including advocating terrorism and denying the Holocaust, yet still has a page on Facebook. Dieudonné has become close to figures around France’s historic far-right party, the National Front — recently renamed the National Rally — many of whose supporters joined the Yellow Vest protests.

With the yellow-vest protests hitting week 32 and the National Front beating Macron’s party in the recent EU elections, you can be sure this new law will quickly be put to use.

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WESTERN MIDDLE CLASSES ARE REVOLTING GLOBALLY AGAINST HYPOCRITICAL ELITES

Western Middle Classes Are Revolting Globally Against Hypocritical Elites

Hard-working taxpayers rejecting globalist agenda

By Victor Davis Hanson

What is going on with the unending Brexit drama, the aftershocks of Donald Trump’s election and the “yellow vests” protests in France?

What drives the growing estrangement of southern and eastern Europe from the European Union establishment? What fuels the anti-EU themes of recent European elections and the stunning recent Australian re-election of conservatives?

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Put simply, the middle classes are revolting against Western managerial elites. The latter group includes professional politicians, entrenched bureaucrats, condescending academics, corporate phonies and propagandistic journalists.

What are the popular gripes against them?

One, illegal immigration and open borders have led to chaos. Lax immigration policies have taxed social services and fueled multicultural identity politics, often to the benefit of boutique leftist political agendas.

Two, globalization enriched the cosmopolitan elites who found worldwide markets for their various services. New global markets and commerce meant Western nations outsourced, offshored and ignored their own industries and manufacturing (or anything dependent on muscular labor that could be replaced by cheaper workers abroad).

Three, unelected bureaucrats multiplied and vastly increased their power over private citizens. The targeted middle classes lacked the resources to fight back against the royal armies of tenured regulators, planners, auditors, inspectors and adjusters who could not be fired and were never accountable.

Enlarge ImageA Yellow Vest Pro-Brexit Protestor seen with an EU flag modified with a Swastika during a rally at Trafalgar Square.
A Yellow Vest Pro-Brexit Protestor seen with an EU flag modified with a Swastika during a rally at Trafalgar Square.Getty Images

Four, the new global media reached billions and indoctrinated rather than reported.

Five, academia, rather than focusing on education, became politicized as a shrill agent of cultural transformation — while charging more for less learning.

Six, utopian social planning increased housing, energy, and transportation costs.

One common gripe framed all these diverse issues: The wealthy had the means and influence not to be bothered by higher taxes and fees, or to avoid them altogether. Not so much the middle classes, who lacked the clout of the virtue-signaling rich and the romance of the distant poor.

In other words, elites never suffered the firsthand consequences of their own ideological fiats.

Green policies were aimed at raising fees on, and restricting the use of, carbon-based fuels. But proposed green belt-tightening among the hoi polloi was not matched by cutbacks in their second and third homes, overseas vacations, luxury cars, private jets and high-tech appurtenances.

In education, government directives and academic hectoring about admissions quotas and ideological indoctrination likewise targeted the middle classes but not the elite. The micromanagers of Western public schools and universities often preferred private academies and rigorous traditional training for their own children.

Elites relied on old-boy networks to get their own kids into colleges. Diversity administrators multiplied at universities while indebted students borrowed more money to pay for them.

In matters of immigration, the story was much the same. Western elites encouraged the migration of indigent, unskilled and often poorly educated foreign nationals who would ensure that government social programs — and the power of the elites themselves — grew.

The champions of open borders made sure that such influxes did not materially affect their own neighborhoods, schools and privileged way of life.

Elites masked their hypocrisy by virtue-signaling their disdain for the supposedly xenophobic, racist or nativist middle classes. Yet the non-elite have experienced firsthand the impact on social programs, schools and safety from sudden, massive and often illegal immigration from Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia into their communities.

As for trade, few still believe in “free” trade when it remains so unfair. Why didn’t elites extend to China their same tough-love lectures about global warming or about breaking the rules of trade, copyrights and patents?

The middle classes became nauseated by elites’ constant trashing of their culture, history and traditions, including the tearing down of statues, the Trotskyizing of past heroes, the renaming of public buildings and streets and, for some, the tired and empty whining about “white privilege.”

If Western nations were really so bad, and so flawed at their founding, why were millions of non-Westerners risking their lives to reach Western soil?

How was it that elites themselves had made so much money, had gained so much influence and had enjoyed such material bounty and leisure from such a supposedly toxic system — benefits that they were unwilling to give up despite their tired moralizing about selfishness and privilege?

In the next few years, expect more grass-roots demands for the restoration of the value of citizenship. There will be fewer middle-class apologies for patriotism and nationalism. The non-elite will become angrier about illegal immigration, demanding a return to the idea of measured, meritocratic, diverse and legal immigration.

Because elites have no answers to popular furor, the anger directed at them will only increase until they give up — or finally succeed in their grand agenda of a nondemocratic, all-powerful Orwellian state.

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‘Christchurch Call’ is a blueprint for more online censorship — and Zuckerberg is a big fan

CAP

By Danielle Ryan

There is nothing inherently wrong with the new ‘Christchurch Call’ to curb violent and terrorist content online. No one in their right mind wants mass shootings live-streamed online — but it’s what comes next that should worry us.

Drawn up in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacre, which was streamed live online, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s ‘Christchurch Call’ is billed as a “roadmap for action” and calls for the “immediate and permanent” removal of “terrorist and violent extremist content” from social media platforms. It has been signed by 18 governments and eight tech companies.

On the face of it, that sounds fine. It’s difficult to argue against removing terrorist content from the platforms so many of us use on a daily basis. The trouble is, Ardern has already admitted that the pledge is simply a “starting point” — and if you were expecting this to be the moment at which social media companies finally began to push back a little bit, sorry to disappoint you, but they’re all in on it together.

ALSO ON RT.COMFacebook ban on Alex Jones and others is a form of modern-day book burning

Endorsing censorship

Lord of social media, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is afflicted with an obvious and ever-worsening God complex, offered a full-throated endorsement of online censorship a few days ago, saying “…the question of what speech should be acceptable and what is harmful needs to be defined by regulation, by thoughtful governments.”

That’s right, Zuck thinks “thoughtful governments” should be deciding what is “acceptable” for us to say online. There’s no ambiguity there. It’s a simple, straight-forward endorsement of the idea that governments should be allowed to regulate our speech. If that doesn’t worry you, then maybe you’re the kind of person who reads dystopian novels and cheers for the wrong side.

Zuckerberg’s comment isn’t exactly out of the blue. Facebook is already under fire for censoring political speech from both the right and left ends of the political spectrum. The company has banned a slew of right-wing commentators and conservative agitators from its platform and taken worrying steps against leftist and anti-war activists around the world.

Just the beginning

So, if social media companies aren’t going to fight back on our behalf (and they clearly are not), who will? The obvious answer is “journalists” — but they don’t appear to be in too much of a rush to halt this creeping censorship either. Some of them appear to be advocating more censorship, rather than less.

ALSO ON RT.COMNo kissing gays or conservative hunters: Overcautious Facebook blocks political ads in SwedenIn an interview with Le Monde on Monday, Ardern was asked why she decided to focus “uniquely on violent terrorist content, and not more broadly on hate speech, which also contributes to the drift in social media?”

Ardern replied that focusing on terrorist content was just the “point of departure” on which everyone could agree. So this is a journey we are on. We’ve departed at ‘terrorism is bad’ — but where will we end? Ardern said she was wary that going any further right now would “open the way for debate” on potential risks to freedom of expression. But in a joint press conference on Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, she said her hope was that working together, governments and tech companies could “eliminate ideologies of hate.”

That would be lovely — and if only the word were so simple, we could just eliminate all the meanies from the internet and live in an online utopia. Unfortunately, this is completely unrealistic, and when you start talking about eliminating certain ideologies, that’s where things get sketchy. Particularly if we’re going to delegate the task of deciding what is and is not “harmful” (as Zuckerberg said) to “thoughtful governments.”

‘Hate speech’ or ‘free speech’?

Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis is set to sign a bill that would make it a “hate crime” to “demonize” or“delegitimize” Israel. The bill purports to be about “anti-Semitism” but it’s really just a vehicle to censor and even criminalize political speech. You see, that’s the kind of thing that “thoughtful” politicians get up to if left to their own devices. Then again, the Florida bill probably isn’t something that would ring alarm bells at Facebook HQ, either. Zuckerberg already happily complies with orders from the Israeli government to delete Palestinian activist accounts.

As for the US government, it has refused to sign Ardern’s ‘Christchurch Call’ citing first amendment rights — but declining to sign a vague and non-binding agreement doesn’t mean much. Capitol Hill is still swarming with politicians just dying to enforce more restrictions on free speech.

ALSO ON RT.COMFrance wants more govt regulation of Facebook and Zuckerberg calls it ‘model’ approachDemocratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeted in the aftermath of last year’s Infowars ban that the very “survival of [US] democracy” depends on Facebook’s willingness to “take down” more websites that “tear our country apart.” Sure, why don’t they just get rid of any content that could conceivably be categorized as divisive? Sounds like a foolproof plan.

A US government intelligence report last year highlighted a former RT show hosted by Abby Martin as an example of content that sowed “radical discontent” in society for critically covering controversial issues like US regime change wars, fracking, capitalism and police brutality. Be careful out there, you never know what could be defined as “radical” content next.

As journalist Igor Ogorodnev wrote in a recent oped, the aftermath of an atrocity “is a honeypot for short-sighted do-gooders buzzing about looking to do something, but also opportunist politicians to realize their long-harbored ambitions.”

Trying to distract us

Social media is what the public uses to organize en masse in the 21st century.

Is it any wonder that Macron, facing months of Yellow Vest protests against his government, is helping lead the charge toward more online censorship?

A French government report recently called for the eradication of content that damages “social cohesion” and warned that“false information,”“unfounded rumors” and “individuals pursuing political or financial objectives” can have an impact on “the social order.” But who decides what constitutes “false information” and “unfounded rumors”? Is Macron’s government “thoughtful” enough for Zuckerberg?

ALSO ON RT.COMWhite House posts call for social media censorship stories, triggering hope & cynicismOf course, it’s much easier for governments to pass the blame for social discontent onto companies like Facebook, while arguing that censorship is the only solution. If they didn’t do that, they’d have to admit that what really drives mass discontent are the neoliberal policies that have had a detrimental effect on basic standards of living, wiped out people’s life savings and ravaged the planet.

But maybe that’s all something Ardern and Macron can work on some other day — that is, if we’re allowed to talk about it.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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Tear gas fired during May Day demonstrations in Paris, scores detained

CAP

Demonstrators marching in Paris to mark International Workers’ Day have been met with tear gas, images from the French capital show, with reports of over 350 people detained.

The procession was scheduled to start at 2:30pm local time but clashes have already erupted between riot police and protesters who have turned out in their thousands. Huge plumes of smoke can be seen rising from tear gas canisters or smoke grenades along the protest route.

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Some 380 protestors were arrested on Wednesday and more than 17,700 “preventive checks” carried out by police, according to French reports.

Meanwhile, France Info reports that a group of between 200 and 300 protesters tried to break into a police station in Besançon, eastern France. Local authorities said efforts were made to break into the station via the car park behind the building, but were repelled by police using tear gas.

In Paris, protesters in some parts of the city have begun erecting barricades to block the advance of charging riot police. According to the latest media reports, 14 police officers sustained injuries.

CAP

Journalists at the scene reported seeing protesters throwing projectiles at police, who continued to charge the crowd and fire gas canisters. Several protesters and at least one policemen have reportedly been injured in the clashes.

Demonstrators including Yellow Vest protesters, labor unions, pensioners, and students are marching through the streets of Paris to celebrate International Workers’ Day. Each year, May 1 is marked by large demonstrations of workers and labor activists who organize marches to campaign for improved working conditions and other social issues.

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Yellow Vests & Black Blocs? France braces for possible protest perfect storm on May 1

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Labor Day is the traditional date for mass protests in France, occasionally quite violent. This year the authorities fear a confluence of the radical part of the Yellow Vest movement with the dreaded Black Bloc anarchists.

On Monday evening, Didier Lallement, the freshly-appointed head of the Paris police, held a high-profile meeting with several other security-related officials to discuss the measures that need to be taken before, and on, May Day. DSPAP, the largest department of the capital’s police force, released a memo detailing preventive action against possible rioting on Wednesday, according to Libération. The special focus will be on trains arriving in Paris.

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The French authorities are concerned that mass demonstrations on Labor Day will escalate due to a “yellow and black wave,” a possible alliance between the domestic Yellow Vests movement and international anarchists from the so-called ‘Black Blocs’. If it happens, the result may pale last year’s upheaval, which resulted in over 200 arrests in Paris.

Yellow Vests, or ‘Gilets jaunes’ in French, have been staging anti-government protests for 24 consecutive weeks, objecting to austerity policies of President Emmanuel Macron. ‘Black blocs’ is a term used for a ragtag alliance of anti-capitalist and anarchist activists, who wear black clothes and masks to conceal their identities and typically join rallies staged by other groups to engage in vandalism of businesses and clash with the police.

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The fear is partially fueled by the public support voiced by some prominent figures among the Yellow Vests in the run up to May Day. The date was also portrayed as a key moment for their cause by many supporters. This may sound ominous considering Yellow Vests’ rejection of concessions offered by the government and a record of rioting in the previous weeks.

Yellow Vests take to the streets in rejection of Macron’s ‘rubbish’ olive branch (PHOTO, VIDEO)

The French authorities toughened up laws on public demonstrations in response to the weekly protests, banned gatherings in some parts of Paris and imposed additional security measures on Saturdays, when the demonstrations usually happen.

Ahead of Labor Day, some French politicians like MP Eric Ciotti argued that Black Blocs should be preemptively banned, Le Figaro reported. The daily said while the sentiment was hardly new, such a ban would be difficult to implement in practice due to the nature of the anarchist movement. They are not an organization that can be denied a permit to rally. They have no definitive leaders to slap them with a restriction order. And they have shown the capacity to adapt to whatever response law enforcement prepares against them.

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S*** got real! Cops pelted with FECAL BOMBS during Yellow Vest protests in Marseille (PHOTO)

CAP

The Yellow Vest protesters have apparently adopted an unconventional weapon against the French law enforcement – fecal bombs. At least three policemen have been already affected by them during the most recent protest.

The criminal police (BAC) officers came under the excrement attack in the city of Marseille on Saturday, getting heavily stained by fecal matter. One of the officers has reportedly received injury to insult, sustaining physical damage to his elbow.

CAP

The incident was acknowledged by the police, with the head of a local police union Rudy Manna revealing the details of the crappy encounter to the La Provence newspaper.

“[The police officers] had it in their hair, on their shoes, they had to dump their clothes. They’ve told me they’ve never been that humiliated,” Manna said. “And since it was truly sh*tty afternoon, the showers did not work at the North Station, they had to clean themselves with cold water in the garage.”

ALSO ON RT.COMWheelchair-bound Yellow Vest protester doused with pepper spray by police in horrifying VIDEO

The perpetrators have not been identified yet, as they hid among other protesters, the union leader added.

The murky projectiles are dubbed ‘Cacatov’ – after trusty Molotov cocktail fire bombs – just filled with fecal matter instead of pricey gasoline. A ‘lighter’ version of the dung bomb is known as ‘Pipitov’ and comes filled with the number one compound.

Apart from Marseille, the Cacatovs were reportedly deployed by the Yellow Vests in Montpellier. The excrement bombs have been deployed in Paris as early as February 23, with a police union sounding alarm over “premeditated and disgusting” acts of the protesters.

Ahead of the Act 16 protests, certain individuals have been spotted promoting the fecal bombs online, sharing tips on how to cook them properly. The waste is watered – or p*ssed – down to a liquid state and then poured into tight plastic containers, balloons, etc. which easily fracture on impact.

CAP

One of the Yellow Vest protesters has even released quite a lengthy video, highlighting the benefits of such weaponry. He lauded the psychological effect the Cacatovs allegedly have on the law enforcement, who would see it as an ultimate insult. According to the protester, the idea originates in Venezuela, where the anti-government demonstrators deployed the poop bombs as early as in 2017. The idea to throw feces at one’s opponent, however, appears to be a little bit more ancient than that and surely dates back to prehistoric times.

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Interview with a French Yellow Vest protester: “We will fight until the elites fall”

By   

Exclusive interview with the French Yellow Vest ‘Pierre’ in Paris by Swedish journalist and writer Katerina Janouch.

(Pierre is not his real name – and he wants to remain anonymous because he is worried about otherwise risking his job). He wants change in France, and he has participated in most of the protests that the Yellow Vests have arranged in Paris.

Katerina asks how his dedication began. “I was tired of sitting at home doing nothing”, he says. “So, therefore, I went out into the streets when the Yellow Vest protests started a few months ago. It felt good to be involved and make a difference.”

Last weekend was messy, Pierre confirms, a group of maybe 100 Antifa supporters were looking to pick a fight. “They are useful idiots of the elite and the police ignore them, and at the same time they attack us peaceful protesters.”

“But there is also a difference in whom you come across. The regular cops are respectful, while the BAC (Brigade Anti Criminalité) are aggressive and don’t know how to handle the protesters.”

“They don’t wear official uniforms, but jeans and black helmets and they are the ones who use violence against ordinary unarmed people. Every time I see them, I cover my face because they shoot flash-balls and they also use other kinds of weapons that are lethal.”

See the source image

“And there is no justice. One guy threw pâté at the police, he got four months in prison. For throwing pâté! While another who drove into the protesters with the intention of harming people only got a one month suspended sentence.”

“People with yellow vests are judged harder. They try to scare us as much as they can, they use violence and legal penalties against us citizens who protest against the abuse of power.”

Pierre develops his opinion on Macron and the goal of the French Yellow Vests: “Of course we want Macron to resign – but it is not enough to replace him, it is not the solution. For years we have elected different politicians but the result has been the same. They are traitors, they don’t do things that benefit the French people.”

“Macron’s agenda is complete. He was elected by the elite and he destroys France’s sovereignty. For example, it has been said that there is no French culture…”

Katerina breaks in: “A number of Swedish politicians have said that as well. That there is no Swedish culture.”

“It is because they want to wipe out the nation states”, says Pierre. “Weaken the unity of the people and thereby make it easy to control them.”

See the source image

“Macron and his followers are globalists, they don’t care about the French people. When he was elected, it was as a result of something that could be likened to exhaustion.”

“People were sick of the right and of the left. They were hoping for something new, but they were also intimidated by the media, which painted a picture that there would be chaos if Marine Le Pen’s Front National came to power. And Macron was portrayed as a hero. People wanted change and saw Macron as someone who could give them that.”

Former President François Hollande has been described as an extremely unpopular politician. However, Hollande’s unpopularity fades when one sees and hears how the French people react to Macron today.

“Macron is really despised”, says Pierre. “Wherever he goes, people boo, he can’t go anywhere without being criticised and scolded. I can’t see that he’ll stay in power for three years. He has offended the French too much, over and over again, accusing his own people of being lazy, alcoholics and so on…”

So what do you want to achieve? Macron’s resignation, and what else?

“We want direct democracy”, says Pierre. “The constitution must be amended. If there are laws we disagree with, we should be able to repeal them.”

“If the politicians don’t work for us, we should be able to get rid of them. The battle will be hard, it’s we the people against the elites, and they hold on to what they have, they don’t want to let go of their power. But we will fight until they fall.”

Do you want France to leave the EU?

“Yes, I want Frexit, many Yellow Vests want it, although not everyone. But I’m tired of French laws being dictated by Brussels.”

“Those of us who want Frexit don’t want Brussels to control and make decisions about France without us having anything to say about it. And I don’t trust the politicians in Brussels. They don’t act in the interest of the people.”

“In the past I believed in the EU. But now that I see what they have done with Europe, I don’t want it anymore. The EU is not working for the good of the Europeans. Juncker sits there and speaks with contempt of the people, disempowering them.”

“They’re threatening that there will be chaos if the countries leave the EU. They scare people. But what is the chaos? I believe in a pure trade union, not a superiority that interferes in how the countries are governed and questions freedom of expression and so on.”

“We need a Bruxit – to get rid of the bureaucrats who work for lobby organisations, and replace them with people who work for Europe’s best. But it’s not easy, these systems are so ingrained.”

See the source image

Nevertheless, Pierre believes a change for the better will come. “Macron is the last symbol of globalism, we see how these elites fall. Like Merkel. Instead, Salvini, Trump, Kurz in Austria are elected… more and more countries are starting to wake up.”

“We will not give up! We are full of fighting spirit and strong in the knowledge that the people always prevails in the end. They don’t want more abuse of power and a detached elite who controls them. We want direct democracy, an opportunity to remove politicians who harm the country, and to tear up laws that don’t benefit our people.”

“We won’t give up. If nothing else, we will fight for those who have been injured, for people who lost their eyes and others who have been beaten up and assaulted. Their injuries will not be in vain.”

What do you want to say to the Yellow Vests in other countries?

“You must organise yourselves, and stand united. We are fighting large systems, but we are also growing into a powerful worldwide movement. Don’t stop fighting! The more protesters there are, the stronger we become. Don’t give up! Bon Courage!”

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FRANCE RECALLS AMBASSADOR FROM ROME AFTER ITALY’S DEPUTY PM VISITS YELLOW VESTS

France Recalls Ambassador From Rome After Italy's Deputy PM Visits Yellow Vests

Rome, Paris relations fraying as populists challenge globalists

France has recalled its ambassador from Rome after a meeting between Italy’s deputy prime minister and leaders of the French Yellow Vest protester movement who have been calling for French President Emmanuel Macron’s resignation.

Luigi di Maio, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement hailed the “winds of change across the Alps” yesterday on Twitter after meeting with Yellow Vest activists Cristophe Chalencon and Ingrid Levavasseur.

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In a statement on the decision, France’s foreign ministry accused Italian officials of making “outrageous statements” and “repeated, baseless attacks” for months.

The statement said the attacks were without precedent since World War 2. “Having disagreements is one thing, but manipulating the relationship for electoral aims is another,” it said.

“All of these actions are creating a serious situation which is raising questions about the Italian government’s intentions towards France,” it added, making clear that Paris is increasingly worried by Di Maio and Salvini’s vocal support for the protest movement and its possible ramifications.

A diplomatic feud has been bubbling between Paris and Rome over repeated expressions of support for the protests coming from top Italian officials. Di Maio’s co-deputy PM Matteo Salvini said this week that French people “will be able to free themselves from a terrible president” in May after European parliamentary elections take place.

Chalencon and Levavasseur are themselves planning to run in those elections, according to French media reports.

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FRENCH POLICE CAUGHT ON TAPE SAYING TO ‘SHOOT’ YELLOW VESTS

French Police Caught on Tape Saying to ‘Shoot’ Yellow Vests

A female officer is then heard saying, “we have to shoot!” to which another male officer replies, “When I tell you to, line up two or three rounds.”

By Chris Tomlinson

An investigation has been launched in Tolouse after officers were caught on tape saying they wanted to “shoot” violent Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protesters.

The footage comes from the Yellow Vest protest on Saturday, January 12th, where protesters and hooligans clashed with police for nearly 16 hours and was recorded at the police command room where officers were watching the scenes of violence unfold on several monitors, broadcaster France 3 reports.

Several officers are heard in the recording including both female and male officers with one male officer saying, “The fuckers! There’s one on the ground there,” and another commenting, “What a bunch of bastards!”

A female officer is then heard saying, “we have to shoot!” to which another male officer replies, “When I tell you to, line up two or three rounds.”

While the video was recorded on January 12th, it was not released until January 31st by the Vigi police union which commented on the audio saying “the words of the policemen have exceeded their thoughts,” and that the officers reacted out of surprise and shock at the video feed they were watching.

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The Haute-Garonne prefecture released a statement announcing an investigation saying, “This scene of rare violence provoked the emotion of people watching these images live, resulting in spontaneous comments.

“The Departmental Directorate immediately opened an administrative investigation for breach of professional secrecy and concealment, so that all light is shed on these facts.”

The leaked recording comes after police have been criticised for their tactics during the Yellow Vest protests, in particular, the use of “flashball” ammunition which is thought to be responsible for some of the most serious injuries.

French doctors have also spoken out about the injuries suffered by Yellow Vest protesters saying that the number of serious injuries, which have included several losing eyes and hands, has been unprecedented.

The theme of police brutality and violence was highlighted in the most recent “Act XII” protest with Yellow Vests denouncing police tactics.

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