(Paris) Prime Minister François Legault calls on the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) to put pressure on digital giants like Netflix and Spotify to give more space to content in French. He mentions a quota of 30% French-speaking content.
On Saturday, at the Grand Palais in Paris, he spoke in a workshop at the Sommet de la Francophonie. He then addressed five representatives from France, Morocco, Monaco, Rwanda, Romania, as well as two young people from Wallonia and Armenia.
“I would like to see the OIF involved in negotiations with large digital companies to demand two things,” he said.
One, according to him, there should be “a minimum, a percentage of content in French” on digital platforms. “Shouldn’t Spotify or Netflix provide us with, say, 30% of content in French in Quebec? » he said.
Two, we should “require that when we go to a digital platform, the first cultural products that we are presented with are not only products in English”.
I would like all the countries of the Francophonie to come together, to give the OIF a mandate to meet with the heads of the major digital platforms to demand that there be a certain cultural diversity.
François Legault, Premier of Quebec
The approach could also be taken in the scientific field according to him because “92% of scientific publications are in English”.
“There is a risk, a trend that must be reversed,” he concluded. His speech lasted five minutes.
His government has been preparing a bill for months to force Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime to give more space to French-speaking content.
The OIF brings together 88 states and governments including 54 full members, seven associate members and 27 observers. The Francophonie Summit takes place every two years.
Earlier during his mission, François Legault had launched a similar appeal at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, in front of a few dozen representatives of permanent delegations.
“We know that, unfortunately, a lot of the digital world happens in English,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a press conference at the Summit on Saturday. “We are in discussions with web giants, we are in discussions with our partners across the Francophonie, including France, to be able to further promote the presence of French online. » He also stressed that efforts are being made to “develop artificial intelligence in French”.
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