An Algerian “influencer”, tried on Monday January 6 in Grenoble, and whose trial was postponed until March 5; another in pre-trial detention in Brest (Finistère), awaiting his trial, scheduled for February 24; a third in police custody in Montpellier; three other Algerian or Algerian-origin tiktokers in the crosshairs of the authorities in the Lyon region… The accumulation of reports of Algerian influencers based in France and making bellicose remarks towards opponents of the regime in place in Algiers, the Jewish community or even French society never stops asking questions.
Are they the tip of an iceberg? Are they part of an “army of shadows”, manipulated by Algiers in order to sow disorder in France? Or is this mass impression just a magnifying glass effect due to the research and reporting work carried out by an Algerian opponent based in France? How long have these influencers been in business? Who coordinates and finances them?
It all started when Chawki Benzehra, an Algerian opponent living in Lyon, took the initiative to upload, on his X account, at the end of December 2024, the most aggressive videos of some of the influencers arrested the previous days. These videos, although watched on the social network TikTok hundreds of thousands of times, had until then gone under the radar.
In Brest, Grenoble and Montpellier
The first influencer, “Zazou Youcef”, domiciled in Brest, is in fact called Youcef A. Aged 25, he was placed in pre-trial detention on Saturday January 4 until his trial on February 24 before the Brest court for “apology of a act of terrorism.” He faces a sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros, underlined the Brest public prosecutor, Camille Miansoni.
In a video published on December 31, 2024 on TikTok, the influencer, followed by more than 400,000 subscribers and whose account has since been deleted by the platform, spoke vehemently in Arabic, subtitled in French , calling for attacks in France and violence in Algeria. He admitted to being the author of the videos aimed at “opponents of the regime in place in Algeria”according to the Brest prosecutor.
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