French Minister Pushes for Censorship of 'Hateful Tweets'

French Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem wants Twitter to help enforce censorship standards she believes ought to be universal.

This would include installing “alerts and security measures” that would stop the dispersion of tweets which the French government deems “hateful.”

As things now stand, Belkacem claims Twitter is too often used for expressing opinions the French government labels “legally and morally reprehensible.” More often than not, these appear to be tweets that run counter to the French government’s latest, greatest social experiment — whatever that is at any given time.

She says the French government does support “freedom of expression,” but not freedom of expression “with impunity.”

Belkacem says she is calling on Twitter to adhere to a “sense of corporate responsibility” by helping the French government control what is and isn’t expressed via the communications medium.