French President Macron to host debate on Twitch tomorrow

France is finding new ways to access youth within the country. Tomorrow the government is turning to Twitch to deliver its latest grand debate with the goal of reaching a younger audience.

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, began hosting debates last month following the Yellow Jacket protests—a grassroots political movement that began in November. While Yellow Jacket protesters are comprised of various subgroups, the main goal of the movement is for economic justice. Part of the motivation for protestors is the rise in fuel prices, cost of living, and other issues.

INFO FRANCE 2. Dix ministres participeront demain à un grand débat sur la plateforme de streaming de jeux vidéo Twitchhttps://t.co/zYHPFS9Zq6 pic.twitter.com/glz8NVjyWN

— franceinfo (@franceinfo) February 18, 2019

Tomorrow’s debate is targeted at accessing younger audiences—a demographic that’s been missing in previous debates. The debate will be streamed on Accropolis, a channel that is typically geared towards politics and not gaming. The founder of the channel, Jean Massiet, brought the idea of hosting a grand debate on his channel to the offices of the prime minister, Édouard Philippe. The government was on board and the livestream of the debate was quickly organized.

Tomorrow there will be an 11-hour meeting with 10 different members of the government, including the prime minister, minister of culture, and minister of education. The meeting is scheduled to be split into two different five-hour sections with questions submitted by viewers. The main focus of the debate is the involvement of youth in the political scene and will follow a similar layout to the previous debates and cover four main subjects. These topics include democracy and citizenship in France, spending and fiscal policy, the state and public services, and environmental transition.

With the unique approach taken by the French government, Twitch may serve a greater purpose than just gaming. The platform gives political leaders the opportunity to access a younger demographic which typically isn’t invested in politics. Tomorrow France will know if this audience is willing to tune in on Twitch.

H/T Politico