A computer, a deputy in the chamber and a live video streaming platform… The rebel-elect Ugo Bernalicis, now imitated by his colleague Antoine Léaument, has been using the Twitch platform for months during sessions at the Palais Bourbon, without causing waves. internally, until the last few days when he was finally immobilized.
“Very specifically, we broadcast live from the National Assembly on our channel and you can see me in the upper left part of the screen, I take the opportunity to answer questions in the chat, explain the text we are voting on, what they are defending”, Ugo deciphers Bernalicis aka “Le Députwitch” on the platform, with BFMTV.com.
One of the most watched channels on Twitch
The deputy from the North embarked on the exercise on the occasion of the controversial law on global security in 2020, before following in particular the debates on the vaccine pass in January 2022 and now the Lopmi law on the means of the Source that uses Gerald Darmanin. .
“If what we do only remains in the National Assembly and no one can take it over, we have failed in our mission as elected representatives of the people,” said LFI deputy Antoine Léaument.
“We want to bring people with us and take sharp debates out of the realm of specialists,” continues the rebel.
Views remain modest (peak audiences rarely exceed 100 viewers), but “Ugo Bernalicis’s channel is one of the 10% most viewed on the platform,” says Jean Massiet, who runs the political channel Acropolis on Twitch. . “It’s really not bad,” judges the specialist.
Among the viewers, there are political fanatics, supporters of LFI but also simple netizens who spend time on Twitch and happen upon the channels of the deputies. They do not hesitate to interact with elected officials via chat. Among his questions, there are both light requests – such as an imitation of Nicolás Sarkozy by Ugo Bernalicis – as well as details about the news or questions about the law under discussion.
Always attentive to the discussion
The couple Ugo Bernalicis and Antoine Léaument, the only two parliamentarians to use the live platform within the institution, now appear to be well established, each alternating a day of presence on the site while regularly giving the floor to other rebel members. let them sit with them.
What distracts them during the sometimes highly technical debates in the National Assembly? No, assure the two men that they remember that there is always a member of the LFI group who can give them a signal when it is time to vote.
“Honestly, there is a lot of dead time during the debates,” said an Assembly administrator. “And then the deputies often know the text well from having studied it in committee.”
Twitch also has an important advantage, compared to other platforms like TikTok: that of leaving a lot of time. When the very popular social network among the youngest encourages very short and very incisive videos, the streaming platform allows the work to be broadcast in the chamber without necessarily having to intervene permanently for Internet users.
“And then, sometimes, the sessions are very long. It keeps the elected officials a little company, it must be said,” says twitcher Jean Massiet.
Reformulated by the Assembly
Maybe good, but this use earned them a first call to order on Tuesday from the Modem vice-president of the National Assembly, Élodie Jacquier-Laforge, during a session. Then, on Wednesday, during lively debates, by the vice-president of the PS, Valérie Rabault.
However, the internal regulations of the Palais-Bourbon do not directly mention the possibility of filming live, it is only prohibited to photograph colleagues, a prohibition that is rarely respected if the person photographed agrees. But it is the Lower House that “guarantees the recording of images and sound”, according to the instructions of the office.
“I asked Ugo Bernalicis if he was live on Twitch. He said yes. So I asked him to stop. My job is to enforce the rules of the National Assembly,” the Modem deputy advances with BFMTV.com.
“I only film people who consent and we don’t bother anyone,” replied the deputy. The rebel elected official has been practicing the exercise for almost three years and says that until now he has never been reprimanded by the institution. “I’m not sure we’ve really noticed it,” a Palais-Bourbon administrator mused, specifying that the Assembly office might wish to clarify the rules.
But beyond the issues of decorum in the chamber, Élodie Jacquier-Laforge’s comment also symbolizes the criticism of the deputies of the presidential majority, who do not appreciate the methods of the rebels on social networks.
“You are a group of TikTokeurs in search of rumors,” launched the Renaissance deputy Fanta Berete in the chamber last October.
Not enough to upset key stakeholders. Louis Boyard MP, very present on TikTok, sees it as “particularly jealous people who can’t do as well as we do on the platforms.”
“They are fighting and it is not in their culture,” even Ugo Bernalicis answers.
However, the presidential movement has tried to appropriate the codes. Minister Gabriel Attal, for example, was received by the youtuber and twitcher Hugo Descifra during the presidential campaign and last October.
“But are you the deputy witch?”
It is that the political body as a whole hopes to attract new voters – and in particular those under 25 years of age who are the ones who abstain the most. La France insoumise believes in this: Jean-Luc Mélenchon is also particularly assiduous on social networks.
During the presidential campaign, he sometimes answered questions from netizens for more than 4 hours on Twitch. The former presidential candidate is regularly the subject of many memes on social media. If the phenomenon has everything of a real bargain, the translation into voting intentions is not, however, obvious.
“It is not because we see a video of a candidate or a deputy that we are going to vote for him”, estimates the political twitcher Jean Massiet.
“The goal is less to have voters than to create a long-term digital community, which we can mobilize when necessary during the elections. And that is where it becomes a potential lever to mobilize”, the young man advances again.
It is not necessary to ask Ugo Bernalicis to recount the time that, during an antigenic test, the pharmacist recognized him and said: “But are you the Députwitch?”
Therefore, there is no question of leaving the platform, even if the National Assembly rules on the ban. “I was always able to keep using the chat” and continue to broadcast the session thanks to the video transmissions of the National Assembly, Judge Ugo Bernalicis. That’s what he did this Friday afternoon, relaunching his broadcast on the Lopmi sign, but this time without activating his webcam.
Source: BFM TV
