Le Pen follows Trump’s lead on social media bombardment

AFP, PARIS: Domination of social media was a key weapon in Donald Trump’s rise to the US presidency, and now 
France’s far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, is looking to follow suit, analysts say.
Le Pen has more than a million followers on both Twitter and Facebook, giving her a bigger social media platform than any other candidate for the French presidency.
Her party, the National Front (FN), is a veteran presence on the internet—it was the first political group in France to launch a website, back in 1996.
Now the party is trying to use the digital world to trump mainstream rivals and bypass the traditional media, “to speak directly to the public.”
“The advantage of social media”, says political communication expert Christian Delporte, “is that you don’t have any opposition. You have your say, and you’re not bothered by a journalist who may contradict you.”
FN supporters are already highly active on Twitter, Facebook and other digital vectors, targeting especially the conservatives’ champion, Francois Fillon.
One method is to undermine Fillion by alleging he has Islamist leanings—a “fake news” tactic of a kind that was all too familiar in the US presidential campaign.
Two hashtags in this regard have been #LeVraiFillon (“#the real Fillon”) and #FaridFillon. They are campaigns where trolls try to tie the former prime minister—who has written a book called “Beating Islamic Fundamentalism”—to the Islamist cause.
The FN denied being behind the hashtags but when 
asked about it, Le Pen added fuel to the fire: “The real question is, what is Francois Fillon’s relationship with Islamist fundamentalists?”

Le Pen follows Trumps lead on social media bombardment

AFP, PARIS: Domination of social media was a key weapon in Donald Trumps rise to the US presidency, and now Frances far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, is looking to follow suit, analysts say. Le Pen has more than a million followers on both Twitter and Facebook, giving her a bigger social media platform than any other candidate for the French presidency. Her party, the National Front (FN), is a veteran presence on the internetit was the first political group in France to launch a website, back in 1996. Now the party is trying to use the digital world to trump mainstream rivals and bypass the traditional media, to speak directly to the public. The advantage of social media, says political communication expert Christian Delporte, is that you dont have any opposition. You have your say, and youre not bothered by a journalist who may contradict you. FN supporters are already highly active on Twitter, Facebook and other digital vectors, targeting especially the conservatives champion, Francois Fillon. One method is to undermine Fillion by alleging he has Islamist leaningsa fake news tactic of a kind that was all too familiar in the US presidential campaign. Two hashtags in this regard have been #LeVraiFillon (#the real Fillon) and #FaridFillon. They are campaigns where trolls try to tie the former prime ministerwho has written a book called Beating Islamic Fundamentalismto the Islamist cause. The FN denied being behind the hashtags but when asked about it, Le Pen added fuel to the fire: The real question is, what is Francois Fillons relationship with Islamist fundamentalists?