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It's actually pretty horrifying, because blaming video games suggest that they have no idea what is the real reason for those riots.

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The real reason is that kids wanted to have some fun, post cool videos on Telegram/Snapchat, and see their city's name added to the map.

Just like during protests. Rioters don't care about what the protest is for, they do it for the adrenaline.

That being said, looking at the videos during the riots, a lot of them really looked like video games.

In Paris, rioters even shot prostitutes as if they were in GTA.

On what basis are you assuming the role of spokeperson for all protestors and rioters?

People live every day with the fear and grief that this could be them, or their friend, or their son. They care enough to take real risks to make their issues heard. It's so deeply cowardly to sit comfortably on the internet and say they don't really mean it when their every action says they do.

During the yellow vest protests, I was lurking in groups where rioters planned their actions. A lot was also organized in plain sight in the comments of websites like demosphere.

And I guarantee that they didn't care at all about what the protests were about. They were just looking for random protests to join. Adrenaline is what they were after.

And to you this feels like sufficient authority to speak on the motivations and values of protestors generally? A protest sparked by a completely different event?

We're not talking about protesters.

The riots were sparked by a completely different event, but "C'était pour s'amuser" https://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/emeutes-sursis-et-brace...

Comments on the Telegram chats don't suggest more maturity.

On what basis are you assuming that all people have good intentions? Yes, those people exist. But don’t pretend all people or even a majority are out there because of that. There are political reasons, material reasons, and basic behavioral reasons people show up to these protests/riots.

To say that no one wants to just watch things burn, or smash and grab, or assault others is to ignore basic human nature and is equally cowardly because it is a denial of the truth to satisfy your beliefs.

To assume most protestors are good is equally as wrong as assuming most are bad actors.

I'm perfectly comfortable with the wide range of motivations people have for participating in protests and riots.

The comment I was responding to however is making assertions about "the real reason" and that rioters "don't care." Which I simply don't accept that they have the authority to make broad statements like that.

I’ll refrain from getting too political on HN, but as a French I tell you: Macron is well aware video games aren’t to blame there.

He can't just say something along the lines of "oh yeah, my policies are what the youth (and not just them) is taking issue with so we'll go back to the drawing board on these and see if we can do better by the people".

This. Macron knows perfectly what he is doing, and why, and for what objective and for whom benefit.

The guy was dancing in an Elton John concert when the cities were burning.

Yep. But hey, blame video games instead of his policy, and maybe next time old people will vote for him instead of Le Pen!

Is this a new thing in France? People have been blaming video games and movies in the US for a really long time now

Macron can't run for president again.

Ah, that does explain why he gives exactly zero fucks about any of his work.

Because they think they're the teachers/parents of the populace and they have the power to take away our "toys"?

The existence of nudge units I think also supports this, insofar as governments think they can tell people how to live, even if it's supposed to be the citizens which tell governments what to do.

>It's actually pretty horrifying, because blaming video games suggest that they have no idea what is the real reason for those riots.

The Macron quote I heard didn't blame video games. Macron said that social media encouraged rioters to riot, and that while doing so they felt the rush that they had felt while playing video games.

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