It's commonplace to see a Journalist's Twitter handle displayed during the news such as Anderson Cooper on CNN. We're asked to "like" our morning news show on Facebook to carry on the conversation or get our feedback relating to a particular story. Facebook, Twitter and journalism = match made in heaven right?
This won't be the case in France starting today. Journalists and celebrities have been asked to stop referencing their social media profiles during programming. The French government has decided mentioning the privately owned sites on TV is unfair promotion for the billion dollar organizations. Can you believe this? Doesn't this seem like a step in the wrong direction?
President Nicolas Sarkozy recently attended the G8 summit where the future of the Internet was discussed. He discussed the potential regulation of the internet. This first move might be the first of many to show France's "limits" on the Internet. France also states that this limitation will allow other social networks to compete with Goliaths such as Facebook and Twitter. Read the full story here.
The regulation of the Internet is not a new debate. On one hand we need to have some control to curb issues such as child abuse and various illegal transactions. But on the other hand we need to keep the Internet open. We absolutely must keep the Internet neutral and not controlled by governments. Social media has flourished due to this open network. A controlled Internet would curb content and freedom of expression.
Is this what France is heading towards? What do you think? What would happen to social media marketing if this happened in the US or Canada?