How does Arcom react to your alerts?

Arcom is the guarantor of freedom of communication. It ensures that the audiovisual media comply with the applicable rules, particularly with regard to the protection of persons under 18, the accessibility of programs, honesty and rigor in the treatment of information, the organization of election campaigns and the representation of society.

Arcom can only intervene with a channel regarding the content of a sequence or programafter it has been shown, never before. Under no circumstances can it censor a program. Nor can it interfere with a channel's editorial line or programming choices.

For example, it cannot demand that a channel reinstate a deleted program, or show a particular type of programme. Nor can it demand that a channel invite a guest or, conversely, exclude him or her from its programs.

If you have chosen to make a formal complaint to the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication, you must leave your contact details so that when the investigation is complete, the authority can inform you of the outcome of your complaint in terms of the audiovisual legal framework (law of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, decrees, specifications for public channels or agreements for private channels, etc.).

Only a complaint for which you have specified the name of the channel, the date and time of diffusion, the title of the program in question and the reason can be examined by Arcom's services. Your personal data will be used for the sole purpose of processing your complaint. To enable our services to deal with your alert efficiently, please identify only one subject per demand.

Arcom does not respond to vulgar or coarse language, violent attacks, insults or slurs, or language with a discriminatory connotation, particularly racist or homophobic.

Submissions of a case before the court, however numerous, do not determine Arcom's action or the investigation of your complaint. It is only the substance of the problem raised that justifies an examination by Arcom.

Access the "Alert us to a program" form.

Every year, tens of thousands of you alert Arcom to a television or radio segment.

Arcom examines all alerts from listeners and viewers who make an official complaint, no matter how many there are.

Arcom's review is guided solely by the substance of the question raised.

Finally, when Arcom intervenes with a TV channel or radio station, it always does so after the program has been shown, never before.

1. Arcom's teams analyze your reports.
2. They view or listen to and analyze the footage, and make a legal assessment of the problem raised in the light of the broadcasters' obligations.

Arcom never gives a ruling in the heat of the moment, but after proceedings that respect the rights of all parties.

Arcom intervenes with the channel, station or service if it finds that they have committed an infringement of the law.

The problem identified is legally qualified, i.e. the facts are translated into legal terms in order to determine the applicable rule of law. Arcom then engages in a dialogue with the channels or radio stations to ascertain their observations.

The time required for Arcom to examine an alert comes under the control of :

1. the legal complexity of the problem in question
2. the length of the sequence
3. the length of the exchange phase with the station;
4. the nature of the proceedings (legal sanctions proceedings will necessarily take longer).

Except in the case of legal sanctions proceedings (see below), there are several stages in the investigation of an alert:

• Examination of the alert by Arcom departments.
• Examination of the alert by the relevant Arcom working group.
• Deliberation by the 9 members of the plenary college (collegiality = guarantee).

Once this process has been completed, you will receive an electronic reply informing you of Arcom's decision.

Arcom's decisions are also published on its website.

Prevention before legal sanctions: that's Arcom's mission.

Arcom's aim is to intervene gradually, to avoid immediate legal sanctions.

When it observes a breach of legislative or regulatory obligations, or of commitments made in the agreements it signs with editors' commitments, Arcom can, depending on the case, intervene in a graduated manner:

1. Regulatory reminder letter
2. Letter of warning
3. Formal notice

By law, any legal sanctions (see specific proceedings below) must be preceded by a formal notice. This serves as a warning.

Arcom's mission is to prevent before imposing legal sanctions.

With this in mind, any legal sanctions are systematically preceded by a formal notice (except in the case ofarticle 42-3 of the law of September 30, 1986). The latter serves as a warning.

It is sent when Arcom observes a breach of legislative or regulatory obligations, or of contractual commitments.

Most formal notices are themselves preceded by a warning letter or a firm reminder of the regulations. The aim is to intervene gradually, to avoid immediate legal sanctions.

If the person served with a formal notice fails to comply with it, a rapporteur appointed by the Vice-President of the Conseil d'Etat is informed by the Director General. The rapporteur decides whether the facts brought to his attention justify the opening of legal sanctions proceedings. If so, at the end of his investigation, he proposes to Arcom, where appropriate, the adoption of one of the legal sanctions provided for by the law or its agreement. It is then up to Arcom to decide whether to impose a legal sanction. This will take into account the seriousness of the breach.

Arcom's role goes beyond monitoring: the Authority is able to impose legal sanctions in the event of non-compliance.

These legal sanctions can be imposed on :

• publishers of audiovisual communication services (radio, television, public and private on-demand audiovisual media services)
• distributors of audiovisual communication services
• satellite network operators.

Legal sanctions are not automatic.

Different types of legal sanctions may be imposed, depending on the seriousness of the breaches committed:

• suspension of editing, diffusion or distribution of a service category, part of a program or one or more advertising sequences for one month or more
• reduction of the duration of the authorization or agreement by up to one year
• a financial sanction, possibly accompanied by suspension of publication or distribution of the service(s) or part of the program(s)
• withdrawal of authorization or unilateral termination of the agreement.

For all publishers, private or public, Arcom can also order the insertion of a press release in programs, for which it sets the terms and conditions of diffusion (cf: Articles 42-4 and 48-3 of the law of September 30, 1986).

The amount of the fine comes under the control of the seriousness of the breaches committed, and is related to the benefits derived from them.

It may not exceed 3% of pre-tax sales for the last financial year, calculated over a twelve-month period.

This maximum is raised to 5% in the event of a further infringement of the same obligation.
Where the breach constitutes a criminal offence, the amount of the penalty notice may not exceed that provided for the criminal fine.

Where Arcom has issued a penalty notice which has become final before the criminal court has given a ruling on the same or related facts, the latter may order that the penalty notice be deducted from the fine it issues. All advertising revenues generated by the service are aggregated with sales. Legal sanctions are collected in the same way as government debts not related to taxation.

As part of the emergency proceedings provided for in article 42-10 of the law of September 30, 1986 (known as the "référé audiovisuel" procedure), the Chairman of Arcom may ask the President of the Litigation Division of the Conseil d'Etat, who gives a summary ruling and whose decision is immediately enforceable, to order the person responsible to comply with the provisions of the law of September 30, 1986, to put an end to the irregularity or to eliminate its effects. The purpose of this demand may be to stop the diffusion, by a satellite operator, of a television service falling within the competence of France, whose programs infringe at least one of the principles mentioned in articles 1, 3-1 or 15 of the law of September 30, 1986.

In addition, under article 42-11 of the law of September 30, 1986, Arcom refers any infringement of the provisions of the law of September 30, 1986 to the state prosecutor.

In order to guarantee the impartiality and rights of all concerned (in particular, the right to a defense and a fair trial), the prosecution and investigation are now linked to a rapporteur, separate from the Board.

The wording and content of the sanction, decided on the basis of the independent rapporteur's report, still comes under the control of Arcom.

This system, which has been in force since 2013, complies with constitutional and European requirements.

Thus, the initiation and investigation phase is now entrusted to an independent rapporteur: Mr. Bertrand Dacosta, Conseiller d'État, was appointed by order of the Vice-President of the Conseil d'État dated January 23, 2018, published in the Journal officiel de la République française of February 1, 2018, after consulting Arcom. Mr Bertrand Dacosta was appointed President of the 10th Chamber of the Litigation Section of the Conseil d'Etat with effect from July 1, 2020 by order of the Prime Minister dated June 12, 2020.