On the evening of Sunday, June 9, as the first European election results were being published, young left-wing internet users were self-reflective. According to a poll by Ipsos, the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) had attracted 25% of voters aged 18 to 24. How could RN leader Jordan Bardella perform so well among young people? Above all, how could his online omnipresence among the young be countered? "We really need to start some 'edits' of the handsome left-wing guys in suits for TikTok," suggested one woman on X.

Started with a dash of irony, the left-wing supporter's idea quickly won over her peers in the rush toward the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7. These "edits" of footage and pictures flooded X, TikTok and Instagram in just a few hours, sometimes racking up millions of views. Featuring left-wing figures, particularly from La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left), in quick-cut edits with slick filters and transitions, they are reminiscent of the "fancams" created by K-pop fans to celebrate their idols.

K-pop fans are particularly active in this activist surge which, in their words, aims to promote the "punchlines" and "charisma" of left-wing representatives such as Sébastien Delogu (LFI), Sandrine Rousseau (Green), Léon Deffontaines (Communist), Philippe Poutou (New Anticapitalist Party, NPA) and Clémence Guetté (LFI). An 18-year-old student behind several videos, Marie, said this is an opportunity to create a gateway to political participation. "People are going to go and watch what these figures are saying because they find them charismatic, and maybe with that, the ideas will reach them," said the die-hard K-pop and Taylor Swift fan.

Already coordinating

In between revision sessions for his high school exams on Friday, 16-year-old Reda has also been making similar montages since Sunday evening. Using the CapCut app, he has been putting stars from the South Korean group Twice and figures from the French left side-by-side with catchy musical backgrounds. "When I did it with Nayeon and Mélenchon, my approach was to take the heads of Twice and La France Insoumise," he told Le Monde, acknowledging the "zany" nature of his edits.

On Monday, the teenager joined a group of some 60 Twice fans on Discord. They were seeking to coordinate their production of edits and fancams for the duration of the election campaign. The initiative echoes the desire of the various parties on France's left to unite in the Nouveau Front Populaire and is far from being the only such movement among young internet users. Created in the aftermath of the European elections, the Gauche Stan ("Left Stans") account made up "mostly of young students and young workers" has shared montages on social media that have already been viewed tens of thousands of times.

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