Clipping: The New Social Media Practice Set to Reshape Belgian Politics
A new social media practice known as “clipping” - the art of extracting short video excerpts from longer political speeches and repurposing them for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube - is rapidly gaining ground in Belgian political communication. As the 2027 French presidential elections approach, politicians have already begun contracting dedicated clipping companies, raising concerns among experts about how this practice could reshape political messaging and electoral integrity.
What Is Clipping?
Clipping involves taking short video excerpts - typically 30 to 60 seconds - from longer content such as podcasts, livestreams, or interviews, and reformatting them primarily in portrait orientation for mobile-first social media consumption. According to RTBF, the Belgian public broadcaster, these clips appear by the hundreds, saturating consumers with videos of the same person or subject and amplifying their visibility across the internet.
“What’s needed is that it imprints on the retina, so to speak,” explains Alice Antheaume, Executive Director of the Sciences Po Paris School of Journalism. “And for it to imprint on social media, with users who scroll all the time, how do you make your eye stop? Your fingers stop? And the third objective, that you remember the subject in question? These are roughly the three objectives of the clip.”
The practice has evolved from an organic fan activity into a professional industry. Dedicated “clipping companies” now generate clips in exchange for monetary compensation, with workers paid based on performance - measured by the number of views their clips generate. As Antheaume notes, “They are paid based on performance, meaning the number of views obtained… Instead of hiring editors who will make X videos, since they’re paid for that, they’ll create an indeterminate number of clips.”
The Business Behind the Clips
The economics of clipping have become increasingly sophisticated. The streaming platform Kick integrated clipping into its economy in 2025 through its “Kick Clipping” program, offering a CPM of $30 per thousand views - between 750 and 1,500 times more than the TikTok Creator Fund. As L’ADN reported, the masculinist influencer Clavicular had 1,610 active clippers generating 69,550 clips and 2.2 billion views in a single month, with over $950,000 paid out to clippers.
A Le Parisien investigation revealed that a 22-year-old French clipping agency owner, operating anonymously, reports six-figure monthly revenue and confirmed that politicians have already contacted his agency ahead of the 2027 presidential elections. “We had politicians contact us, even this morning,” he said. The same investigation described clipping as a form of “propaganda” that floods social media feeds.
The Risk of Decontextualization
The most significant concern surrounding political clipping is the potential for decontextualization. Nothing obligates clippers to keep statements in their original context or cite it, raising concerns about the potential to shorten, caricature, or lose the essential meaning of political speech.
“You really have this quest for performance, to get maximum views,” Antheaume warns. “And sometimes, you angle around the little phrase, a visual that can catch the eye. But it’s not necessarily the meaning of the full statement. And that’s where practices need to be regulated, precisely to avoid shortening a statement, caricaturing a statement, or even simply losing the essential.”
Electoral Implications
As the French presidential elections of 2027 approach, the use of clipping in political campaigns is expected to intensify significantly. Experts warn that the practice could be used not only to promote candidates but also to discredit opponents through smear campaigns.
“It’s likely there will be escalation and smear campaigns against another candidate, for example, on any subject,” Antheaume said. “It’s true that this destabilizes the electoral process in the end, since if it’s the only means of information for voters, then it rests on a whole set of elements that are partially false, or at least incomplete.”
The Romanian election crisis of 2024 demonstrated how short-form video on TikTok can influence electoral outcomes. As RTBF reported, the unexpected victory of pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu in the first round was propelled by TikTok, leading to the annulment of the election and an EU investigation into electoral interference.
What This Means for Belgium
While the immediate focus is on France, the implications for Belgium are significant. Belgian French-speaking media closely follow French political developments, and the techniques used in France will likely influence Belgian political communication strategies. Belgium has its own complex multi-party system with frequent elections at federal, regional, and local levels.
The adoption of clipping as a political tool could reshape how Belgian parties communicate. Notably, Belgian artist Le Motif has already created clip.farm, a platform to structure and professionalize clipping activity, suggesting the infrastructure for political clipping already exists in Belgium.
A Regulatory Vacuum
There is currently no specific regulation of clipping in Belgium or at the EU level. The practice exists in a legal gray area between copyright law, freedom of expression, and electoral integrity concerns. As RTBF’s analysis of political misinformation noted, Wales recently became the first country to make it illegal for politicians to lie, raising questions about what Belgium might do.
Experts like David Chavalarias, author of “Toxic Data,” have demonstrated how social media algorithms exploit cognitive biases to manipulate political opinions. As RTBF reported, the most effective manipulation strategy is not promoting a candidate but rather discouraging voters from supporting the opponent - a strategy that clipping could amplify significantly.
Looking Ahead
The 2027 French campaign will require significant work from fact-checkers and disinformation experts due to the proliferation of clipping. As Antheaume noted, “This 2027 campaign in France will still be an occasion for a lot of work on the side of fact-checkers, disinformation experts, because there will be a lot of clipping to watch.”
For Belgium, the question is not whether clipping will arrive in political campaigns, but when - and whether regulators will be prepared for its consequences. The practice has already proven its power in entertainment and influencer culture. Its application to democratic processes raises fundamental questions about how political messages are consumed, interpreted, and verified in the digital age.