CHRONIC. External interference, political declarations… The era of post-truth

Clément Viktorovitch returns every week to the debates and political issues. Sunday May 26: the act of vandalism which targeted the Shoah Memorial in Paris on May 14. Red hands sprayed on the Wall of the Righteous, in reality a destabilization operation led by Russia.

Last April, at Sciences Po Paris, students brandished their red-painted hands during a demonstration in support of Gaza. Some want to see it as a call for the massacre of Jews, in reference to the lynching of Israeli reservists in Ramallah in October 2000. Others, on the contrary, point out that bloody hands are a symbol frequently used to call for the end of a massacre. The red hands sprayed on the Wall of the Righteous on May 14 seem to put an end to this controversy. Regardless of what the Sciences Po students wanted to say, it will be difficult in the future to brandish a symbol sullied by such an anti-Semitic act…

Until we learned this week that it was external interference, probably led by Russia. It is in fact the same procedure as for these blue stars tagged on Parisian walls last October. We discovered that these were not anti-Semitic acts either, but rather a Russian operation. According to the DGSI, these are classic destabilization operations. They aim to “amplify the fractures in French society”, put your hand in the wounds, deepen the divisions. In short: pit citizens against each other.

It’s terrible, because what Vladimir Putin is exploiting to attack us is both what we hold most dear and what he denies to his own people: political pluralism. The idea that in France, the debates are lively, perhaps. Deeper and deeper and more painful, no doubt. But they can at least take place. It is this democratic virtue which finds itself, cynically, turned against us in an attempt to make it a weakness.

We can also see the desire to induce a sort of systematic distrust: to lead citizens to doubt everything, including facts. And I think it’s even more serious. What will happen the next time we discover anti-Semitic or racist tags? Will we react with force, at the risk of amplifying a destabilizing operation? Or will we wait cautiously, at the risk of letting unacceptable facts slip through? And even, what will happen tomorrow, when artificial intelligence tools really no longer allow us to discern falsehood from truth?

Hannah Arendt said that what is destroyed when lying becomes generalized is “the sense by which we orient ourselves in the real world”. The problem is not that lies are accepted as truth. The problem is that no one believes in anything anymore.

“If everyone believes in what they want, our ability to debate on common foundations disappears. That is to say the very heart of democracy.”

Clement Viktorovich

on franceinfo

Unfortunately, it is feared that all this has only just begun. Especially since in this regard, politicians also seem to me to have a share of responsibility. Look, just in the last few weeks: Jordan Bardella believes he was “irresponsible to initiate the unfreezing of the electorate in New Caledonia before the Olympic Games”. The constitutional text was nevertheless voted on with the votes of RN deputies! Isn’t that consistent? It’s not serious ! Manon Aubry publishes a tweet suggesting that Raphaël Glucksmann, François-Xavier Bellamy and Valérie Hayer would be paid by lobbies or foreign states. It’s wrong ? It doesn’t matter: the tweet will never be removed! Valérie Hayer accuses the PS deputies of not having voted for the military programming law. In fact, yes, they had voted for it. But come on, it doesn’t matter!

Sarah El Haïry, Minister of Youth, accuses students of having put Sciences Po “with fire and blood”. Ah, there hasn’t been the slightest deterioration? It’s not serious ! Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Republic, claims to have never supported Gérard Depardieu against his victims. However, he did not have a word for the victims on December 20, in front of the France 5 cameras. Can anyone check? It’s not serious. And all of this is just the last three weeks!

We have (definitely?) entered what the philosopher Myriam Revault d’Allonnes calls “the era of post-truth”. What we see growing is an indifference to the truth. It doesn’t matter whether what is said is true or false: all that matters is that it is effective, that enough people want to believe it.

It is this situation that authentic disinformation operations encounter and amplify. With I fear, if we are not careful, there will be deleterious consequences. A world in which political speech is no longer bound by reality, where it becomes possible to say anything and everything, is a world where anything can happen. Including the worst.