A political storm erupted in Spa after Laura Bonazza, a municipal councillor for the MR-UC and president of the Dames MR de Spa, shared an artificial intelligence-generated video on Facebook claiming that Adolf Hitler was a man of the far left. The publication triggered a wave of indignation, forcing local coalition partners and municipal leaders to distance themselves from the controversial post.
The Origins of the AI-Generated Video and Its Wider Reach
The video at the center of the controversy was generated by artificial intelligence under the direction of Brivael Le Pogam, a startup founder from Brittany, whose productions lean to the right. The clip was posted on the platform X (formerly Twitter), where it garnered 219,000 views in 4 days under the title Cela fait des mois que je répète que Hitler était d’extrême gauche
(“I’ve been repeating for months that Hitler was far-left”).
The central premise of the video relies on the argument that the Nazi party’s official name—the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP)—places it on the left of the political spectrum. The video claims that historians, who classify Hitler as far-right, have a political bias.
Political Fallout Within the Spa Majority Coalition
Bonazza defended her decision to share the content on Facebook with the caption Je pose ça là…
(“I’m just leaving this here…”). When questioned about the backlash, she stated that she did not necessarily endorse the video’s claims, arguing instead that she wanted to launch a serene debate. It’s not because you share something that you agree with it. I’m not saying this is my vision but that everyone makes up their own mind,
she stated, adding that people on the right are afraid to publish anything or even comment.
The post was subsequently deleted, but not before drawing sharp rebukes from coalition partners within the municipal administration. Baptiste Grignard, a socialist alderman elected on the Pluriel! list who serves in the ruling coalition alongside the MR-UC, stated that he was extremely shocked
by the publication. Grignard criticized both the content of the video and the decision of an elected official to relay it, emphasizing that there is no debate to be had on established historical facts.
Meanwhile, Spa Nicolas Tefnin, of the MR-UC, addressed the incident. Tefnin stated that he viewed the matter as an isolated personal initiative and indicated he had not watched the video prior to the public outcry, characterizing the episode as a maladroit misstep on a subject that exceeds the councillor’s purview.
The Broader Clash Over Political Discourse Online
The controversy in Spa highlights the friction between local political actors and the circulation of artificial intelligence-generated content on social media. While Bonazza maintained that her intention was to spark a serene debate in an environment where she feels conservative viewpoints are stifled, critics argue that sharing such content distorts established historical facts.
The incident leaves the local majority coalition managing a public relations hurdle, balancing free expression concerns against the defense of historical consensus against AI-driven revisionism.
