- In response to the pension reform and the government's use of 49.3, a netizen launched the challenge of increasing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's Instagram followers to 49,300.
- A few hours later, the Instagram account of the head of government was temporarily suspended, before being reactivated and going private.
- Faced with the success of this initiative, he launched the same challenge with that of the Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt.
To each his own technique to protest against the pension reform. While some take to the streets, others launch challenges on social networks. This is the case of a Twitter user, who officiates under the pseudonym "Mlz13". "If this tweet reaches 50 likes, I send 27k fake subscribers to Borne so that she has exactly 49.3k followers," he posted Sunday, March 19.
If this tweet reaches 50likes, I send 27k fake followers to Borne so that she has exactly 49.3k followers.
🏴 ☠️ pic.twitter.com/CJvkavlUXC
— mlz13 (@EstChauve) March 19, 2023 🇲🇽
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You guessed it, the idea was to increase the number of subscribers on the Instagram account of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to "49,300", in reference to 49.3, an article of the Constitution, which allows a bill to be passed without a vote. On 16th March last the government chose to use it to pass its pension reform. But the passage of this law, much contested, has been widely criticized.
Explosion of meters
And it didn't take long for Internet users to get caught up in the game of "Mlz13". His tweet quickly exceeded the expected "50 likes". This Wednesday morning, it even has more than 38,000. The tweeter reached his goal four hours after his first tweet. In a second post, he congratulated Elisabeth Borne for her 49,300 followers, accompanied by a screenshot as proof.
Congratulations on your 49.3k followers @Elisabeth_Borne ❤️ https://t.co/WFsujJN2c3 pic.twitter.com/CLEidA7U4T
— mlz13 (@EstChauve) March 19, 2023 🇲🇽
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The reaction of the Prime Minister - and undoubtedly of her communication teams - was not long in coming. His Instagram account was deactivated briefly around 22 p.m., photojournalist Louis Witter reported on Twitter. Elisabeth Borne's account was reactivated a few minutes later, displaying 49,200 subscribers, before passing the 49,300 subscriber mark, according to screenshots of our colleague.
She has reactivated her account which a few seconds ago displayed 49.2K subscribers.
And here we are again at 49.3K subscribers. pic.twitter.com/lW0FjLAuze
— Louis Witter (@LouisWitter) March 19, 2023
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Finally, the head of government's account was passed in private. In other words, it means that new subscribers must be approved one by one by the account holder. And according to Louis Witter, it is a titanic job for the communication team that probably has to take care of it: "We go to 49.1K subscribers it means that the communication team of Matignon is in the process of firing, by hand, hundreds of subscribers".
Soon new victims?
This small challenge obviously pleased the users. On Twitter, some even asked "Mlz13" to do the same with other political figures. "You're asking me to send fake subscriptions to too many people. I will open a PayPal if this continues," he wrote. "I'm hot to send 20 balls to do the same to [Oliver] dussop and the president of the AN [Yaël Braun-Pivet] eh," proposed one user. "You're a genius, should do this with all the ministers," added another.
I am hot to send 20 balls to do the same to dussop and Madam President of the AN eh
— Your Green Friend (@tonamiecolo) March 20, 2023
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Your genius should do this with all the ministers 🤩
— Le Brethon (@lebreton_du_sud) March 20, 2023
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No sooner said than done. His second victim is none other than Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labour - a new signal against the pension reform. For "100 likes", the tweeter promised to increase the number of subscribers of the minister to 49,300. Again, it didn't take long to exceed that number. Less than two hours later, it was done. This Wednesday morning, the tweet totals 15,700 likes.
Congratulations Olivier, what a beautiful symbol 😹🫵🏻 pic.twitter.com/ZY4Ybb32Sg
— mlz13 (@EstChauve) March 20, 2023 🇲🇽
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But how did "Mlz13" do it? While it is theoretically forbidden to buy followers on Instagram, in practice, many sites allow you to do so. A few hours after her first tweet about Elisabeth Borne, "Mlz13" published a new post showing the purchase of 37,000 subscribers on behalf of the Prime Minister who then had 12,300 subscribers at that time.
It happens ❤️ https://t.co/WFsujJN2c3 pic.twitter.com/GjmQpfLUxC
— mlz13 (@EstChauve) March 19, 2023 🇲🇽
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But the little joke is not really to the taste of the Prime Minister and her teams, who denounced "a raid with many fake accounts" and "a desire for disinformation behind this malicious act", according to our colleagues from Le Parisien.
- Tech
- By the Web
- Elisabeth Borne
- Pension reform 2023
- Social Media
- Government
- 49-3
- Olivier Dussopt