Macron 'very upset' by social media silencing Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday criticised social networks for restricting former US President Donald Trump's access to their platforms at the end of his presidency.

Speaking in a recorded video chat with the Atlantic Council think tank, Macron said platforms like Twitter and Facebook which had "helped President Trump to be so efficient" in making himself heard cut him off "at the very second they were sure" that he could not hold onto power. He said more regulation of social media networks is needed to "reestablish a public and democratic order in this new space where our people think, live."

After years of being outlets for Trump during his presidency, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter silenced his accounts during his last days in power, after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a deadly insurrection on January  6. Twitter permanently shut down Trump's account, @realDonaldTrump, which had 89 million followers.

Image: AP