Gérald Darmanin worries about “the TikTok or Twitter imam”

The Minister of the Interior explains that only “five mosques out of 2,600 have caused problems in their sermons” since October 7, the day of the Hamas attacks in Israel. 75% of comments advocating terrorism take place online according to Gérald Darmanin, who recognizes France’s “great difficulty” in acting on social networks.

Social networks in the dock. Faced with the rise in anti-Semitic acts in France, five weeks after the Hamas attacks against Israel, Gérald Darmanin says he is concerned about the content glorifying terrorism found on certain platforms.

“The TikTok imam or the Twitter imam is much more dramatic” than certain imams, judges the Minister of the Interior this Thursday on RTL.

“I think we should be more worried about digital hatred, which is sometimes relayed on television sets, than in mosques where things went well in the vast majority of cases,” adds Gérald Darmanin, thus evoking the case of the remarks made Tuesday on RMC by imam Abdelali Mamoun.

“No pegged figures” on anti-Semitic acts

This cleric, who presents himself as one of the imams of the Grand Mosque of Paris, asked during an appearance on RMC for “concrete information” on the number of anti-Semitic acts committed in France.

His comments suggested that the religious representative was questioning the figures communicated by the Ministry of the Interior. The Grand Mosque of Paris has since dissociated itself from these comments.

“It should be emphasized that Imam Abdelali Mamoun is not the spokesperson for the Grand Mosque of Paris and that he speaks in the media in a personal capacity,” the institution clarified. The cleric then apologized on BFMTV.

“The insinuations of this imam are extremely ambiguous”, annoys Gérald Darmanin, explaining that there were “no figures manipulated, no conspiracy which shows that the State and the Jews would have agreed to to say that there is a wave of anti-Semitism when there is none.”

“5 mosques out of 2,600 posed problems in their sermons”

1,518 anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in France since Hamas attacks in Israel from October 7. 436 acts of this type were recorded for the whole of 2022.

“There have been 5 mosques in France since October 7, out of 2,600, which have posed problems in their sermons,” underlines the Minister of the Interior, welcoming “the work of Islam in France” and “the vast majority of mosques where everything goes well”, before tackling social networks.

75% of content apologizing for terrorism comes from X

Gérald Darmanin says he is particularly concerned about anti-Semitic remarks made online. For example, an influencer was arrested at the beginning of November after posting a video on Instagram.

The young woman was ironic about the crimes committed by Hamas during attacks in Israelreacting to rumors – unconfirmed at this stage – of a baby placed in an oven.

“75% of the content that advocates terrorism and hatred of Jews is on Twitter (now named the minister of the Interior.

The influencer will be tried on November 22 for advocating terrorism.