Students, trade unions and Yellow Vests set to protest across France

Where exactly are the calls to protest on the 17th of October coming from? There have been hundreds of messages posted on social media urging people to take to the streets. This video, dating back to the 8th of September, appears to be the very first call for people to mobilize. The person behind it is not widely known, but their post was quickly copied by other users on TikTok. Much of the anger is centred on the rising price of fuel. Dozens of posters, many created using artificial intelligence, have been circulating online. According to a confidential police briefing, some participants are organising through messaging groups asking for or offering, quote, carpooling services to reach major cities and designated meeting points. Benjamin Ball, who is an activist, has created this map showing planned demonstrations. You might have thought it would only be the rural areas, but it's not. We're also seeing city centres and working-class neighbourhoods. Every kind of area is represented. There are very few gaps on the map. Like Jérôme Rodrigues, several other prominent figures from the Yellow Vest movement are calling for the protests to grow. The student demonstrations are giving these online calls fresh momentum, with a sharp increase in activity over the past few days, according to the social media experts. Overall, we're seeing hundreds of millions of views on TikTok videos, with content being shared across all platforms. So yes, interest is extremely high. The online momentum is undeniable, but just how far it will translate into protests remains to be seen.