French President Emmanuel Macron faces severe backlash online after criticizing the American model of free speech amid violent nationwide protests.
French President Emmanuel Macron is drawing fierce online backlash after criticizing the American conception of free speech and arguing that liberty requires a "common framework" — remarks landing as his government faces mounting pressure from nationwide student protests, school blockades and clashes with riot police across France.
"The so-called American ‘free speech’ today, which some people have promoted, is the opposite of free speech," Macron said at Complutense University in Madrid during a discussion on democracy, youth and the digital age on Sept. 29, according to a translation of his remarks.