BFM TV compiles a list of the most common first names among the rioters! Article 6 of the 1978 Data Protection and Freedom of Information Act strictly prohibits any ethnic statistics: “it is forbidden to process personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, or to process genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.” However, researchers and scientists regularly rely on this kind of data in their “studies,” and BFM TV has just found a clever way to circumvent such prohibition.
BFM TV compiles a list of first names of the rioters!
It would be “dishonest” to solely attribute this initiative to BFM TV. When asked about the link between immigration and the riots, the Minister of the Interior, Gérard Darmanin stated, “Uh, there were also a lot of Kevins and Matteos.“
In other words, Mohamed and Hassan were not the only ones responsible. The connection between crime and immigration, which preoccupies the “no longer so republican” right and the hard right embodied by Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, has never found scientific justification. As immigrant communities also belong to the poorest segments of the population, such conclusions are more akin to determining, even after statistical analysis, that the poor have always attacked the rich since the Middle Ages.
So, during a live news broadcast, BFM TV compiled a list of the most common first names among the rioters. And to everyone’s surprise, there were many names that evoke the essence of French heritage. Yes, all of this doesn’t seem serious coming from a media outlet. However, despite its controversial reputation a few years ago, BFM TV pales in comparison to channels like Cnews or LCI when it comes to “right-wing orientation.“
