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French Riots Lead to Crackdown on Blogs

Browncoat writes "Wired reports that because of the recent riots in France, authorities have shut down a blog called Hardcore, whose participants have allegedly violating a French law concerning violent speech. Many bloggers fear there will be consequences for them if they are outspoken, even if it is in a nonviolent way. From the article: 'Ahmed Meguinia, a political activist who saw some of the Paris region's hardest-hit areas during the past week, said many bloggers feared prosecution for publishing even nonviolent content. While not condoning blogs that incited violence, he said that there was a lack of media coverage explaining why ethnically segregated inhabitants of some of France's poorest cities have been driven to riot. Instead, the world repeatedly sees CNN images of burning cars and shops, he said.'"

9 of 1,020 comments (clear)

  1. Ethnically segregated? by RandoX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's a loaded term. Show me where France forced ethnicities into certain parts of the city, Warsaw Ghetto style. People live wherever they can afford to. Guess what? Beverly Hills is 'ethnically segregated' too.

    1. Re:Ethnically segregated? by deacon · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The French state owns 30% of all housing. These people are dependents of the French state. They live where they are told.

      That's not the cause of the trouble, however.

      An all-pervasive nanny state which results in huge unemployment and no hope for advancement, A French elite mentality that Africans are sub-human, and endless dicking around with muliticultiralism which has allowed the formation of an African state within France, have given the results seen for the last two weeks.

  2. Before y'all get TOO worked up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... we have laws against inciting violence here, and most other places have the same deal.

    If some American blog advocated setting fire to police stations and lynching Dick & George, it would also be "cracked down" upon.

    Let's not get all hypocritical here.

  3. "Driven" to riot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's like saying Osama Bin Laden was "driven" to attack the WTC. Or the people who attacked London in July were "driven" to it by the victims.

    Many ( but centainly not all) of these rioters are racists. The difference between them and other disillusioned youths in their North African homecountries is that they're living close enough to the hated group to actually attack them, in this case their property and the police.

  4. The most loaded rhetorical question ever? by JonTurner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's examine this statement:
    >>he said that there was a lack of media coverage explaining why ethnically segregated inhabitants of some of France's poorest cities have been driven to riot.

    >>lack of media coverage explaining
    No doubt. From the media, one would think it was just random collections of poor "youth" on a little spree, releasing youthful energy by burning a car or two (thousand). The reality is that it's a well-defined group of people which I'll get to in a moment.

    >>ethnically segregated inhabitants
    Do you mean the "muslim immigrants (many of whom are illegal aliens), primarily male aged 14-26, who, by choice, are poorly integrated into France's culture (read: hates France, doesn't speak French, disdain for Europeans, etc.) and thus more likely to be unemployed (and living off of France's generous welfare system, placing a burden on the French)?" It's hard to tell, with all those PC buzzwords in the media.

    Look, it's what happens when a culture doesn't insist that immigrants conform. They hate their host country and are using this as an excuse to terrorize, burn, loot, and generally express their disdain and hatred for France.

    Anything else I can clear up for you?

  5. What happens when a city/country has 30% turnover? by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Indeed. Some countries made an effort to distribute their transmigrants evenly around the country. However, many take issue with ending up in a small town or out in the country, so they move to the city, creating their own ghettos. Sweden is one example. Language and cultural problems then create further isolation. I say transmigrants because many (far from all, but definitely many) have no intention of adopting the language, culture or values of their new country. merely creating a defacto colony in a new territory.

    Denmark has had really severe problems with that, but so far the groups fight eachother. None of the European countries have faced up to the transmigration problem and still handle them and immigrants alike under antiquated immigration laws designed to handle a slow trickle of individuals back in the 1950's. No system is really in place to get the people new job skills for those that need it, proper language skills, and an acceptance or appreciation of existing values and mores.

    As a result, you get situations like in the Netherlands where each of the 4 largest cities in the country have a first generation immigrant/transmigration populations of over 40% each. Or in Malmö, Sweden where Swedes are now the single largest ethnic minority, even counting second generation immigrants/transmigrants as Swedes, regardless of assimilation.

    There is also the problem of double standards. Any questioning or criticism of the system results in personal verbal attacks and accusations of intolerance. Any criticism of the behaviour of the new comers is likewise attacked with accusations of intolerance and racism. In contrast, newcomers can get away with statements and actions that would put a 'native' in serious legal trouble, resulting in jail or fines. That has to stop and the reality of the situation be looked at as well as the intended goals.

    How does importing 5 million transmigrants into a country of 5 million or even 60 million help the situation for either the people (both new and old) in the new country or those left in the country they have escaped from? We all know what happens to a business if there is high turn over, what about whole cities or countries?

    --
    Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
  6. Re:Thank god for France! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a difference. See if you can spot it:

    Anita Coney is a smelly poopy-head.

    That's opinion.

    Anita Coney should be shoved through a meat-grinder because he's such an idiot.

    That's a threat.

    Understand? You can state opinions ("France sucks!") but you can't try and get people to attack France.

    By the way, the US works in exactly the same way. It's often refered to as "yelling fire in a crowded theatre" but you can bet that the same blogs would be shut down by US authorities.

  7. my 2 euro cents by lovebyte · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since I live in Paris and I used to live in one of those poor suburbs, my humble opinion might be worth more than 2 cents, so here it comes:
    1. There is no country in Europe that does not struggle with immigrants and children from immigrants from African origin. France has the largest number of them, hence the biggest problems. (This is also correlated to the anti-semitism problem in France: the largest arabic and the largest jewish populations of Europe are in France and anti semitism in France comes overwhelmingly from this arabic population)
    2. Many of those rioters are simply criminals that do not want the police to be present in these suburbs and are demonstrating that it is their territory.
    3. Islam has nothing to do with these rioters. If they were white, would we say it's because of christianity? These criminals are not muslim.
    4. These bloggers were calling for physically hurting policemen, burning cars, schools, ... They were not just discussing the problems.
    5. What is this bullshit about journalists not talking about the causes of the social problems? All French newspapers, TV and radio news are just talking about that!
    6. These riots happen almost exclusively in the poor suburbs of France, 99% of the French population has only seen burning cars on TV.

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    I'll do it for cheesy poofs.

  8. Re:Choice Doublespeak by goldspider · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "'Driven to riot' implies a lack of accountability on the part of the people looting and burning one of history's great civilizations."

    Truer words have seldom been posted here... except that part about history's great civilizations, of course :)

    Think of how many violent acts are carried out here in the USA because someone was "driven" to it? People seem to be "driven" by everything these days; alcohol, work stress, abusive parents, rap music, video games... everything except the most important element: CHARACTER FLAWS.

    Maybe if people stopped blaming society for all of their personal shortcomings, we'd be able to fix some of our problems. Until that happens, though, prepare yourself for more of the same.

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    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy