Berliner Boersenzeitung - How France's far-right is winning the TikTok battle

EUR -
AED 4.303228
AFN 81.923031
ALL 97.909719
AMD 450.171953
ANG 2.096976
AOA 1074.487442
ARS 1469.906879
AUD 1.794206
AWG 2.109136
AZN 1.999097
BAM 1.952812
BBD 2.36751
BDT 142.865081
BGN 1.956194
BHD 0.441689
BIF 3493.476377
BMD 1.171742
BND 1.499089
BOB 8.09162
BRL 6.38623
BSD 1.172657
BTN 100.430197
BWP 15.654757
BYN 3.837305
BYR 22966.148894
BZD 2.355312
CAD 1.60343
CDF 3381.648779
CHF 0.932675
CLF 0.028783
CLP 1104.543443
CNY 8.406137
CNH 8.419173
COP 4747.466217
CRC 592.777215
CUC 1.171742
CUP 31.051171
CVE 110.844284
CZK 24.62897
DJF 208.806749
DKK 7.460554
DOP 70.355427
DZD 151.979693
EGP 58.199616
ERN 17.576134
ETB 162.732892
FJD 2.633784
FKP 0.863301
GBP 0.861412
GEL 3.175237
GGP 0.863301
GHS 12.189053
GIP 0.863301
GMD 83.77774
GNF 10169.893454
GTQ 9.00046
GYD 245.007696
HKD 9.198218
HNL 30.661649
HRK 7.536664
HTG 153.898122
HUF 400.449921
IDR 19043.155705
ILS 3.925073
IMP 0.863301
INR 100.421007
IQD 1536.081823
IRR 49359.64357
ISK 143.011291
JEP 0.863301
JMD 187.151234
JOD 0.830746
JPY 171.786824
KES 151.507599
KGS 102.468664
KHR 4708.024801
KMF 492.716372
KPW 1054.5423
KRW 1612.756825
KWD 0.357885
KYD 0.977198
KZT 609.283796
LAK 25260.767597
LBP 105061.138103
LKR 352.496985
LRD 235.101302
LSL 20.85478
LTL 3.45985
LVL 0.708775
LYD 6.333688
MAD 10.551579
MDL 19.845889
MGA 5178.92726
MKD 61.542715
MMK 2460.081593
MNT 4204.866527
MOP 9.481136
MRU 46.568354
MUR 53.067974
MVR 18.04166
MWK 2033.178856
MXN 21.792886
MYR 4.981087
MZN 74.944607
NAD 20.85478
NGN 1795.296721
NIO 43.151062
NOK 11.826043
NPR 160.688716
NZD 1.952949
OMR 0.450535
PAB 1.171018
PEN 4.153238
PGK 4.916982
PHP 66.250171
PKR 333.35795
PLN 4.239311
PYG 9345.064305
QAR 4.265851
RON 5.076338
RSD 117.128528
RUB 91.628726
RWF 1694.34904
SAR 4.394767
SBD 9.768727
SCR 17.19417
SDG 703.628272
SEK 11.143369
SGD 1.500779
SHP 0.920805
SLE 26.369196
SLL 24570.854255
SOS 670.161186
SRD 43.733523
STD 24252.699675
SVC 10.259875
SYP 15235.145419
SZL 20.846682
THB 38.323037
TJS 11.262367
TMT 4.112815
TND 3.415494
TOP 2.744335
TRY 46.925742
TTD 7.955352
TWD 34.175011
TZS 3069.964632
UAH 48.977755
UGX 4209.559576
USD 1.171742
UYU 47.019267
UZS 14863.921153
VES 131.572362
VND 30626.414118
VUV 139.793453
WST 3.226231
XAF 655.821156
XAG 0.03215
XAU 0.000356
XCD 3.166692
XDR 0.815631
XOF 655.821156
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.385812
ZAR 20.926173
ZMK 10547.081684
ZMW 28.405116
ZWL 377.300539
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

How France's far-right is winning the TikTok battle
How France's far-right is winning the TikTok battle / Photo: Thomas SAMSON - POOL/AFP

How France's far-right is winning the TikTok battle

If social media statistics were a solid predictor of voting intentions, France's far-right leader Jordan Bardella would be a shoo-in for prime minister.

Text size:

The 28-year-old, leading the push for the anti-immigration National Rally (RN), is trouncing current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal -- at least on TikTok.

The RN was a big winner in this month's European elections, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament and call a snap election for June 30 and July 7.

Pollsters expect the RN to do well, but the big question is whether they will get an overall majority and control of the legislature in the European Union's second-biggest economy.

Bardella has said he will not take the role of prime minister unless the party wins an outright majority.

On TikTok, the election is being played out in sometimes spicy vignettes.

Attal, heading the campaign for Macron's centrist Renaissance party and just seven years older than Bardella, has called out his rival directly.

"If you don't need anything, call Jordan Bardella," Attal said in a clip filmed during pre-election campaigning, accusing Bardella's camp of "absolute amateurism".

Bardella, often filming pieces to camera from the comfort of his car, calmly warned against the dangers of misinformation in a close-up video on Thursday.

He repeatedly claims his party is being misrepresented by mainstream media.

But whether any of this will sway the election is up in the air.

- 'Codes of authenticity' -

Experts say it can be a fool's errand to try to link social media popularity to votes.

"It is very difficult to measure the effect of social networks on electoral results," said Marie Neihouser, a specialist in digital media and politics at Toulouse University.

Yet there is broad agreement that Bardella is succeeding where many politicians struggle.

"He is the only one who has incorporated the codes of authenticity into his video content," Tristan Boursier, a researcher at Paris's Sciences Po university, told AFP.

Alongside more traditional campaign videos, Bardella often appears in candid scenes, drinking pastis, eating Haribo sweets ahead of TV debates or preparing for an awkward meeting.

When appearing on television, he said in one clip, "I always eat sweets or sugar. It stops me feeling hungry, and then I'm galvanised for two hours."

The approach "makes him likeable, human and presents him as authentic," said Boursier.

His team posts more frequently than those of his rivals, and with far better numbers.

Bardella's warning about misinformation had garnered more than one million views by Friday midday, compared with 300,000 for Attal's chiding of Bardella.

Overall, Bardella has 1.7 million followers -- having added some 500,000 since early June.

Attal has just over 300,000. Macron has 4.5 million but has not posted during the election campaign.

- 'He's funny' -

The focus on TikTok helps shift the dynamic away from policies and on to personalities, helpful for Bardella who is one of France's most popular politicians, according to opinion polls.

He has not revolutionised RN's platform -- their campaigning still drills the usual far-right mantra of immigration, national identity and law and order.

The party is also sceptical of climate science and conservative on issues like gay rights.

Despite polling in many countries suggesting young people are liberal on these issues, one quarter of French voters aged 18-24 backed the RN in the European election.

"He's funny, he has the same references as me," said Maya, an 18-year-old RN voter from near Paris who declined to give her surname.

Maya, who has followed the campaigns on social media, said RN founder Jean-Marie Le Pen was a "scumbag" but insisted Bardella was different -- at least in his presentation.

"I know the RN isn't very open about LGBT rights but laws protecting them are already in place, so nothing will change," she said.

Marie Neihouser suggested the RN is looking well beyond this election with its TikTok strategy.

"Today's teenagers will be tomorrow's voters and reaching out to them now with his posts anchors his image in their minds," she said.

"In five or 10 years, it will be more natural for them to slip a Bardella ballot into the ballot box."

(P.Werner--BBZ)