Several Instagrammers, broadcasters and other content creators are getting involved in the legislative elections that end Sunday in France. Between the “Popular Stream” on the left and the far-right influencers, can these Internet stars really have an impact on the outcome of the vote?
Squeezie was one of the first influencers to oppose the National Rally (RN). In an open letter published on his Instagram account on June 14, the YouTuber with 18.9 million subscribers called for a vote, saying that “a party that advocates hatred, discrimination and fear of others has never been a solution and never will be.”
Since then, several Internet celebrities have followed suit. More than 300 influencers signed a column in the Mediapart Club on June 17. They want to block Jordan Bardella, president of the RN, and support the New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing alliance. Together, these content creators form the “Popular Stream”. Live videos of the two rounds on Twitch and a petition (which has collected nearly 3,000 signatures) continue to be accessible online.
According to media historian and sociologist Jamil Jean-Marc Dakhlia, the political engagement of media personalities is not unprecedented. “Left-wing parties have always attracted forms of support from artists, particularly the French Communist Party,” he says. “In France, this support from the world of culture dates back to the interwar period. In the United States, it is also a well-oiled machine.” [en faveur des démocrates]. »
The professor at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University points out that social networks are channels for self-expression and the expression of opinions. “We imagine that a certain number of Internet users want to know the opinions of these people who are very popular and appreciated for their personality. When you have reached a certain level of notoriety, you feel invested with a duty to set an example,” he says to explain why these celebrities, who are usually not politicized, are suddenly taking a stand.
The RN’s disjointed support
The “far-right galaxy” is also deploying its influencers: Georges Matharan (164,000 subscribers on YouTube), Le Bracq (73,000 subscribers on TikTok) and Psychodelik (236,000 subscribers on YouTube) are delighted with the results of the first round.
” Normally, [les influenceurs d’extrême droite] tend to reject institutional politics,” explains Tristan Boursier, a visiting researcher at the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po in France (CEVIPOF). “It is only since 2022 that they have been a little more engaged, with the appearance of Éric Zemmour [président du parti Reconquête]who was for them the first candidate representing their interests and their vision of the world. Until then, the RN, formerly the National Front, was a party that was much too left-wing for them.
Unlike the “Popular Stream,” influence efforts by online identity conservatives (mostly white men in their mid-twenties) are not the result of a coordinated call for voting. According to Boursier, while some openly display their allegiance to the RN, others will instead frame their vision of the world and current events in a perspective favorable to the party.
” [Un appel au vote] would be perceived as too sheep-like behavior, but all their communication contributes to going in the direction of the RN, he says. That’s where there is subtlety. Given that they are not professional politicians, they do not have the posture at all to make an appeal for the vote,” adds the researcher, taking as an example Le Lapin du Futur (105,000 subscribers on YouTube) who, like the French presenter Cyril Hanouna, will “hit the left, Macron and be favorable to Bardella.”
“A marginal influence”
Is it even effective? “It’s hard to prove,” Mr. Dakhlia replies. “But it’s an important event in the democratic debate.” […]. It is one more element that helps citizens to form their own opinion. Either to reinforce it, or to qualify it or possibly to change it. We are not privy to the secrets of consciences, so we do not know exactly what the impact is.
For Thierry Giasson, professor of political science at Université Laval, the influence of these content creators remains marginal. According to him, citizens’ political behaviors develop quite early and are linked to the first circles of socialization, such as family or school.
Next, young people have information habits, acquired more or less early. Among these is following content creators. “So it enters into their thinking process, but it’s not the only element,” he explains. “People are not blank slates. We arrive at messages with preconceptions and opinions, and often, we get our information from media that have opinions similar to ours.”