A TikTok influencer has sparked outrage in France after he appeared to post a message saying “we will shoot you” and “we will rape you” aimed at people protesting against the Algerian government.
France and the North African nation have a long association through a colonial past and more than 880,000 people with Algerian heritage are estimated to live in the country.
Algeria has been ruled by by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is also the defence minister, since 2019. He was controversially re-elected in 2024 with a whopping 94.65% of the vote.
International observers have questioned the fairness of the election and many political opponents and supporters campaign from France against President Tebboune.
But according to French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, a social media influencer living in the northern city of Brest, in France, appeared to call for attacks on anyone protesting against Mr Tebboune.
French media reports the ‘Algerian’ influencer, said to be living in France, posted under the pseudonym zazouyoucef calling for attacks on anyone demonstrating in France against the Algerian authorities.
TikTok confirmed to Express.co.uk the account has since been banned from the site, and the social media company states on its guidelines that it does “not allow any violent threats, promotion of violence”.
On the video, shared on several French media sites, the influencer is seen to be saying: “We will shoot you. We will rape you. And you want to go out on January 1? Where? Shoot them, we have to let the guns fly, President Tebboune, they want chaos … Shoot them, even if it’s my brother, shoot him, they are paid by France.”
The influencer, who is said to have 400,000 followers, could also be seen calling on Algerians living in France to target protesters in France: “Those who come out to Paris, we’re going to take care of them … We’ll bury them with the Jews.”
French X user Jugé Coupable shared the video online which was then picked up by the French press.
Online calls for attacks on public gatherings are even more chilling in light of the recent attrocities and attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
The FBI now says the New Orleans truck attacker acted alone in an “act of terrorism” when he drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers early on Wednesday, killing 14 people.
The driver had posted videos on social media hours before the carnage saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill, President Joe Biden said. The FBI identified the driver as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.
Hours after the New Orleans attack, fireworks and camp fuel canisters were found in a Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing a suspect inside the vehicle.
The alleged Cybertruck bomber has been named as US Army veteran Matthew Livelsberger, 37. Reports suggest both Livelsberger and Bahar Jabbar served at the same army base during their military careers, but according to the Associated Press, the attackers are not said to have known one another.