Post

TikTok and eBay were among six online platforms summoned for an emergency meeting by the French government this week, as authorities sought to contain widespread rioting and looting and prevent the resale of stolen goods.

Anne Le Hananff, France’s minister of digital affairs, convened representatives from social media firms on Tuesday, after their platforms were blamed for fanning the flames of the worst civil unrest the country has seen in years.

A review by WIRED of TikTok found that the search term “blocus”—meaning blockade in French—showed videos that were potentially altered or AI-generated, including viral images of a protester in a Pink Panther costume.

The search term is also being used to promote “Act II” of the protests for October 24. The platform issued an “evolving situation” tag on the search term that said.

A separate meeting, confirmed by Serge Papin, minister for small and medium-size enterprises on X, was held on Monday with major online reselling platforms where “an agreement was signed” to crack down on the resale of looted goods.