13Youth, algorithms, and the problem of political data
On September 27, 2018, a young activist and aid worker was found guilty by a French court in Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France of defamation for a tweet he had posted earlier in the year. The tweet showed the picture of two police officers standing over a man who appears to be a migrant sitting on his sleeping bag. In the tweet the 21-year-old suggests the officers are about to take away his sleeping bag, and the caption reads “but, we are the French nation, sir.” With the tweet the young-aid worker wanted to raise awareness on the refugee crisis in Europe and mock the French President Emmanuel Macron who used the phrase “but, we are the French nation, sir” in a speech ...
