Immigration law: fever in the hemicycle, but no contagion on social networks, while Gérald Darmanin finds himself at the center of attention.
In collaboration with ODOXA and Public Sénat, Mascaret (formerly Dentsu Consulting) publishes a monthly political barometer to gauge the temperature of public opinion. Discover below an extract from the Expert’s Eye column by Benjamin GRANGE, CEO of Mascaret, and Yves CENSI, Senior Partner.
Immigration law: fever in the hemicycle, but no contagion on social networks. Debates on France’s immigration law in December 2023 revealed intense ideological differences in the National Assembly. But on the networks, the debate on the immigration law did not excite the crowds: it counted “only” 230,000 mentions and 2 million engagements. By way of comparison, over the same period, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite declining attention, racked up 5 million mentions and 15 million engagements.
Discussions on the abolition of the AME (with a small spike at the end of November during the passage of the bill through the Senate), article 3 on jobs in short supply, and political manoeuvring on the passage of the bill, have slightly revived the interest of Internet users. Within these conversations, the role of Parliament is being questioned: are the French genuinely interested in parliamentary debate, or are they content with the “49-3” of a strong executive?
Immigration law: fever in the hemicycle, but no contagion on social networks, while Gérald Darmanin finds himself at the center of attention.
The debates and negotiations gave pride of place to right-wing personalities, who saw a real upsurge in interest: Renaud MUSELIER (+70% of mentions compared to last month), Eric Ciotti (+40%), Laurent Wauquiez (+40%), Thierry Mariani (+20%)… but it was above all Gerald Darmanin who found himself the most exposed: he was at the heart of the debates on the networks too, with an increase of 45% of mentions and 105% of engagements! As the true bearer of the bill, he was its almost unique representative in the minds of the French. Rarely for the better, however, as the Interior Minister’s popularity is far from assured on social networks, where his detractors are particularly vocal – #DarmaninDémission having been a top hashtag over the period. In fact, the question of his possible departure was the most followed episode of the entire sequence, across the board!
Find out more about the full ODOXA-Mascaret poll below!
