French Vlogger Spars With YouTube Over Interview With European Commission President

By 09/19/2016
French Vlogger Spars With YouTube Over Interview With European Commission President

On September 15th, French vlogger Laetitia Birbes was one of three YouTubers who received the opportunity to interview Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission. The interview, which was essentially the European version of a pair of YouTube-led sit-downs with American President Barack Obama, was billed as an opportunity for young people to get in touch with the politicians who govern them. Instead, if Birbes’ account is to be believed, the event was an attempt to draw some free publicity for the head of the European Union’s executive branch.

Here’s the story, as Birbes tells it: She was invited by YouTube to interview Juncker, but as the event drew closer, she realized the video site wished for her to ask “plain questions” rather than the inquiries she had prepared. In a pre-interview incident caught on camera, a YouTube representative can be seen speaking to Birbes. “You don’t want to get on the wrong side of YouTube and the European Commission,” says the representative in French, “except if you don’t care about having a long career on YouTube.”

Despite those threats, Birbes carried on with her initial questions. She asked Juncker about his predecessor’s ties to Goldman Sachs and questioned how his status as the former premier of the tax haven Luxembourg shaped his views on taxation. To his credit, Juncker did not dodge Birbes’ questions in any noticeable manner; their conversation can be seen in the below video, beginning around the 24-minute mark.

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After the event, YouTube met with Birbes and offered her a contract for a project she had long sought, but she opted not to sign it as she could not ascertain the video site’s true intentions. She instead offered her entire recollection of the Juncker interview and the events surrounding it in a video on her YouTube channel:

While it hard to deny or excuse the actions of the YouTube representative whose threatening words were caught on camera, the video site has attempted to put out the fire started by Birbes. “Laetitia had some tough questions for President Juncker and before the interview, asked for our advice on how to phrase them,” a Google spokesperson told Politico. “Our colleague encouraged her to be respectful, rather than confrontational — that is all that happened here.”

The European Commission’s chief spokesperson, Margaritis Schinas, offered his own comment. In it, he insisted that President Juncker has enough political experience to answer tough questions. “Frankly, we are a bit annoyed that for some reason we are now becoming part of the story with which we have absolutely nothing to do,” he said.

It’s hard to say whether one YouTube representative stepped out of line, or whether the site’s plan to have its stars throw softballs goes deeper than that. I think the main takeaway from this story is that it reminds us how important it is that the YouTube community is filled with people who are fiercely independent, even when facing pressure. No matter how severe you find YouTube’s transgressions to be, Birbes should be applauded. If, somehow, her bold interviewing style does come with repercussions for her online video career (though that does not seem like it will be the case), she would make a great TV journalist.

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