How are far-right YouTubers appealing to younger people?
They call themselves Papacito, Le Raptor, or even Julien Rochedy, and the least of their videos on YouTube easily exceeds 100,000 views. Everyone has their own account on the video platform but their profiles converge: an anti-republican far-right speech, an ode to violence, national romance and big arms, and repeated provocations.
The latest, this Sunday, June 6, when Papacito posted a video titled “Is Leftism Bulletproof? In this one, he fired a 12-gauge shot at a mannequin presented as a La France Insoumise voter. “Of course, the purpose of this video is not to engage you in producing violence. It is purely experimental, ”recalls the youtubeur just before exploding the head of the mannequin.
A video since deleted by YouTube and which provoked the indignation of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, presenting this content as a call to murder. Paroxysm of a rise in power of these youtubeurs. "The ultra-right, which has always been very marginalized, very divided, finds through social networks the opportunity to break out of its isolation thanks to codes and forms adapted to the new generation", notes Stéphane Rozès, political scientist and Chairman of Advice, Analysis and Perspectives (CAP).
Excessive provocation and controlled ambiguity
The codes, used by all these YouTubers, are easily identifiable: ever more provocative content to create buzz, featurings (videos between several of them) to a more convivial and friendly aspect, an apparent simplicity of format, and “humor”. All mixed with ultra-straight speech sauce. “The public of Papacito or Raptor is younger than those who would stay an hour in front of a speech by Marine Le Pen or a pleading by Eric Zemmour. It requires less intellectual effort, it is passive consumption, which makes it even more dangerous, ”explains Jean-Yves Camus, political scientist specializing in the far right.
A rhetoric that also serves to easily defend oneself in the event of an attack, as was the case with Papacito, who hammers home the idea that his video was only a little provocative humor but had no serious background. “There is a voluntary ambiguity on the parodic side or not of the thing. But if we remove the pseudo-second degree from these videos, only the violence remains. We are never safe from someone taking it seriously and taking action, ”says Jean-Yves Camus indignantly. An ambiguity reinforced by the culture of YouTube, which makes it possible to simply pass the thing in a context of general buzz on the platform.
At the border of reality
Beyond humor, all the content of these videographers sways between reality and fiction. National novel more than mythologized, where the historic meeting between Francis I and the King of England Henry VIII is described by Papacito in the form of a wrestling hold of the French sovereign on Henry VIII, who would have urinated on himself following his defeat (yes yes, you read that sentence correctly), comparison between the history of France and the universe of series like Game of Thrones, military clothes, multiple references to medieval universality, costumes and firearms abound in their videos...
“We are dealing more with characters than people. There is a romanticization of France and of themselves to make themselves more interesting, more sales-oriented, more charismatic. We have more the impression of watching a series than a political speech, but the ideas are impregnated, ”supports Jean-Yves Camus. And seduce more, with this facilitation of writing and this intensity that fiction has in relation to reality. However, in a world in social and economic crisis, these “tales” can turn out to be seductive. "Many people are disoriented and need to find in simple, even radical, even conspiratorial speeches, explanations for a reality that escapes them or seems too cruel to them", indicates Stéphane.
Neovirilism and love of the male
Last commercial argument, and perhaps one of the most highlighted, testosterone. Video "burned", "real guys", "alpha males", we spare you all the vocabulary used, but the idea is quite clear. These YouTubers share the same cult of virility and masculinity. “It serves the soup for adolescents and post-adolescents in need of benchmarks and in need of virility. There too, it is more character incarnation than reality, but some believe in it, ”despairs Jean-Yves Camus.
An explosive mix that can seem both completely surreal and dangerous. "When you remove the useless posturing, historical approximations and facade testosterone, it's still a great intellectual void," says Jean-Yves Camus. A great void that accumulates several million views.
JusticeThe Paris prosecutor's office opens an investigation after the video of youtuber Papacito targeting La France insoumisePoliticsJean-Luc Mélenchon will report to the prosecutor the video of far-right youtuber Papacito
