Macron is fully emulating Orwell. This is really a dystopian period.

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French President Emmanuel Macron acted entirely in Orwellian fashion this week. Although Macron was long a darling of the Western media, he is among the world’s most vocal opponents of free speech. This week he declared: “The so-called American ‘freedom of speech,’ as it is propagated by some today, is the antithesis of freedom of speech.”

France is rapidly descending towards censorship and the criminalization of free speech. These laws penalize statements based on vague criteria that relate to the “incitement” or “intimidation” of others on the basis of their race or religion.

For example, fashion designer John Galliano was found guilty by a French court of making anti-Semitic remarks in a Parisian bar. In another case, the father of conservative French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was fined for calling members of the Roma minority “stinking.” A French teenager was charged for criticizing Islam as a “religion of hate.”

Many of us were recently outraged when Macron celebrated Brigitte Bardot’s life as that of someone who “embodied a life of freedom.” This comes after the French government has repeatedly prosecuted Bardot for expressing her views.

Macron’s praise for Bardot’s “life in freedom” is reminiscent of the reaction of French officials to the massacre of the editors of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. After years of tormenting the victims with criminal investigations, the French government organized a march for freedom of expression. As predicted, it then used the murders by Islamist extremists to further restrict freedom of expression.

In Jonathan Turley’s book The Indispensable Right, he describes how France has been sliding down the slippery slope of censorship for decades, and how the desire to silence others has now become an insatiable appetite.

Macron has supported figures like his ally in the fight against freedom of expression, Thierry Breton, in globalizing the reach of the infamous Digital Services Act (DSA) to restrict freedom of expression – including for Americans and American companies. In his latest plea for censorship, Macron resorts to an old refrain that no one can speak freely if everyone is allowed to speak freely.

Macron explained: “There is no freedom if my freedom has no limits – and this begins with the freedom of others and respect for a shared framework. I realize this when I walk down the street: My freedom should not mean hitting you, insulting you, or vandalizing the public space we all share.”

This sentence is extremely revealing. It illustrates how even “insulting” statements are treated as a criminal offense in France.

Since then, France has been at the forefront of eroding freedom of expression in the West, with increasingly broad laws restricting it. France regularly prosecutes people for political and religious statements, including comedians and those who criticize the police.

Macron’s instinctive aversion to freedom of expression is shared by many in the European Union. The Digital Services Act prohibits statements deemed to be “disinformation” or “incitement.” When it was passed despite criticism from many in the freedom of expression community, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, celebrated by declaring that “it is no longer a slogan – that what is illegal offline should also be regarded and treated as illegal online. Now it is a reality. Democracy is back.”

Despite his unpopularity in France, Macron remains a darling of the establishment and the media in the United States. Years ago he appeared before US Congress to spread his anti-freedom-of-speech ideas. Macron called for a united fight against “fake news,” declaring, “Democracy is about genuine choices and rational decisions. Distorting information is an attempt to undermine the very spirit of our democracies.”

American MPs clapped like seals, barely realizing that he was alluding to censorship. Macron believes he should be able to dictate which views are “destructive” to the spirit of democracy.

The claim that more speech means less speech is a contradictory argument used by the anti-freedom movement. There has never been a single censorship system in history that has succeeded in eradicating a single idea or movement. Instead, it has given politicians like Macron more power to silence critics and intimidate opponents.

Ultimately, the only true solution to harmful opinions is beneficial opinions. The public can develop its own values and weigh opposing viewpoints without strict government directives. Freedom of speech serves as its own disinfectant.

Ultimately, allowing people not only free research but also free expression of opinion steers humanity toward truth. Hatred and prejudice are inherently flawed values that tend to crumble when subjected to comprehensive, lively debate.

This does not mean that racism, sexism, or other forms of hatred will be eliminated immediately. Neither censorship nor freedom of expression can make everyone a better person. What Macron is spreading, however, is the same tired, dishonest claim that freedom of expression is harmful and that the government needs to control what people see and say in public discourse.

This is a nation where the call for liberty, equality, and fraternity (“liberté, égalité, fraternité”) still resonates. In contemporary France, however, “liberté” remains a value in decline. Personal rights to freedom of religion and expression are routinely sacrificed in the name of “justice” and “fraternity.”

This is a really dystopian time

Meanwhile, during the past weekend France’s streets burned, shops were looted and emptied, and a historic town hall collapsed after being set on fire. But the most striking images from Saturday evening (Oct. 17) didn’t show the fires. They showed people carrying on as if nothing had occurred.

A woman jogged directly through thick black smoke past a burning barricade, treating the chaos like a workout on an outdoor treadmill. Groups of French baby boomers continued dancing as buildings around them were set ablaze. A tour guide was filmed carrying on with her program for visitors, smiling and pointing out landmarks, while the flames literally devoured the city right before the tourists’ eyes. Meanwhile, the so-called head of state of France, President Emmanuel Macron, was filmed at a Céline Dion concert.

This was the backdrop for the worst night of rioting and unrest in years. Authorities reported around 550,000 people in the streets (others spoke of 800,000). Throughout the day, there were between 1,200 and 1,800 arrests; more than 500 police officers, gendarmes, and firefighters were injured. In Paris, one person died of cardiac arrest.

In Limoges, the 143-year-old town hall was deliberately set on fire; its spire and roof collapsed. Prefect Maurice Barate called the attackers “a savage mob”.

Mayor Guillaume Guérin said the intruders threatened staff and threatened him with death. The building had survived two world wars.

In Lyon, the tourist office, described as a historic building in the heart of the city, was set on fire , and officials described the loss as a tragedy.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government would not be “intimidated” and blamed the “ultra-left” and criminals. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez referred to “extreme left-wing” demonstrators who had been “joined by criminals who looted and vandalized.”

The deputy mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, declared: “Entire streets have been devastated.”

In Marseille, rioters violently entered the town hall, toppled a bust of Marianne, and hoisted Palestinian flags.

Stores of Rolex, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and others were emptied in broad daylight. Looters also broke into the Centre Bourse shopping center and began taking everything they could carry. In Paris, a woman who had joined the demonstrations was filmed shouting, “That’s not what this is about,” as others began looting. She was pushed aside and told that they “urgently needed to shop.”

The restaurant owner Aline von La Barrique was beaten, her face was injured, her restaurant was looted and set on fire. The owner of a phone shop sat amidst the shattered remains of his business. In Nice, a person associated with a targeted business was attacked after confronting the rioters. Groups also hijacked tourist train carriages.

Footage of the looting and chaos on the streets was widely shared as a direct consequence of left-wing politics and an education system that prioritized ideology over basic order.

This was not a spontaneous student protest that has gotten out of control

An investigation by Fox News Digital found that of approximately 50 organizations active in the context of the unrest, only about a third were actual student or youth groups. The rest included trade unions, communist and socialist organizations, the French Communist Party, La France Insoumise, and a Palestinian advocacy group.

The same reporting traced the financing and distribution of content back to networks linked to Shanghai-based tycoon Neville Roy Singham, including media outlets such as BreakThrough News.

A clip circulating on X shows pallets of bottles appearing on the street as if they had been placed there in advance. This suggests that the chaos was organized and the rioters were supplied with materials rather than acting spontaneously.

The original complaints about the teacher shortage and the outdated school buildings are now just a footnote.

While the country was being looted and set ablaze, people danced, jogged through the smoke, offered tours, and the president attended a concert. This most clearly demonstrates how far removed the official narrative is from what is actually occurring on the ground.

 

yogaesoteric
October 23, 2026

 

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