Anti-France wave sweeps Algeria as ultranationalists launch campaign against former colonial power

Ultranationalist social media influencers from Algeria are spreading hate across France, its erstwhile colonisers. According to Politico, the trends have now triggered nervousness in Paris which is already suffering from political turbulence. In light of this, France has made several high-profile arrests over the past few weeks.

The arrests include a handful of online influencers who have built a large audience in a few months by inciting violence and terrorist activity, and, in some cases, they have also been accused of targeting French-based opponents of the Algerian regime. “The influencers are profiteering from a context of heightened tensions between France and Algeria,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told the weekly newspaper L’Express.

It is pertinent to note that the relationship between France and Algeria has been fraught and poisoned for decades due to the resentment that came with the 132-year bloody rule. The former colonies have often condemned France due to the violence committed during Algeria’s war of independence that ended in 1962 Both nations are also struggling with a deadlock on migration issues.

France struggles to curb Algerian influence

According to Politico, at least seven people have been arrested since January for their provocative online posts. They were accused of inciting violence against individuals and, in some cases, calling for terrorist attacks against France. In one of the most high-profile cases, an Algerian influencer living in the Western city of Brest was accused of accused of glorifying terrorism after he posted several inflammatory video clips on TikTok.

The man who goes by the name Zazouyoucef, had around 400,000 followers. At least one of the clips shared by him mentioned the name of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as he was seen seemingly threatening his opponents.

“Among these influencers, there are lone wolves, crazy people who have no link [with the Algerian regime] but who acted against the backdrop of preexisting rhetoric,” said Chawki Benzehra, a France-based online Algerian activist and opponent to the regime who has played an active role in flagging violent posts on his social media accounts.

However, it is important to note that none of these posts have resulted in an actual act of violence. There have been no documented links between these TikToks or any sort of threats Paris faced in the past months.

France remains hesitant in approaching Algeria

It is pertinent to note that several Algerian nationalist influencers have been pushing pro-regime content in the past couple of years. However, anti-French content started to circulate online at the end of last year. “It was like an orchestrated wave … Toward the end of last year, people started to flag video clips that were way over the line," Benzehra said.

As of now, the French government has refrained from accusing the Algerian government of pulling the strings. “At this stage, we have no evidence that this is a coordinated campaign,” Retailleau told the French news outlet. “We haven’t seen artificial amplification or coordination,” a French security official who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said. “Generally speaking, the Algerian ecosystem isn’t really structured or experienced [when it comes to online influence],” he added.

However, the very high number of followers of these accounts is making both French officials and academics nervous. “I have been surprised by the number of followers,” said Benjamin Stora, a prominent historian who was commissioned in 2020 by Macron to work on the issue of French colonization, told Politico. “[Their message] is not very elaborate … But here is one idea, which is nationalism,” he added. “The nationalist craze in [part of] the Algerian diaspora is new.”

With inputs from agencies.