Decision of April 20, 2022 concerning the legal sanctions proceedings initiated on December 16, 2020 against Société d'Exploitation d'Un Service d'Information (SESI)

The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication,

Having regard to Act no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, as amended, on freedom of communication, in particular articles 3-1, 28, 42-1, 42-2 and 42-7 ;

Having regard to decree no. 2013-1196 of December 19, 2013 relating to the legal sanctions proceedings implemented by the French Superior Audiovisual Council pursuant to article 42-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 relating to freedom of communication;

Having regard to decision no. 2005-473 of July 19, 2005, amended and extended, authorizing the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) to use a radioelectric resource to operate a national television service broadcast free-to-air by terrestrial hertzian means in digital mode initially called "i Télé" and then, as of decision no. 2016-680 of July 27, 2016, "CNEWS", and decision no. 2019-582 of December 11, 2019 extending the authorization of July 19, 2005 ;

Having regard to the agreement entered into between the French Superior Audiovisual Council and the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I), on November 27, 2019, concerning the Cnews television service, in particular articles 2-2-1, 2-3-7, 4-2-2 and 4-2-3 ;

Having regard to deliberation no. 2018-11 of April 18, 2018 relating to the honesty and independence of news and the programs that contribute to it, in particular article 1;

Having regard to decision no. 2016-829 of November 3, 2016 giving formal notice to Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.);

Considering the broadcast elements of the "Midi News" program shown on July 19, 2020 on Cnews;
Having regard to the letter dated December 16, 2020 from the rapporteur referred to in article 42-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, notifying the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) of the decision to initiate legal sanctions proceedings against it, and inviting it to present its observations within a period of one month;

Having regard to the e-mail of January 4, 2021 by which the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) requested communication of the documents in the file, which were sent to it by the Director General of the French Superior Audiovisual Council by letter of January 7, 2021;

Having regard to the written observations of Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) sent to the rapporteur by letter dated January 29, 2021;

Vu le rapport établi par le rapporteur et communiqué à la Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.), à son avocat ainsi qu'au président du Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel par courrier du 10 décembre 2021 ;

Having regard to the other documents in the file;

At the meeting of April 13, 2022, the Competition Authority heard the rapporteur, as well as Ms. Laetitia Menase, General Secretary of the CANAL + Group, Mr. Thomas Bauder, News Director of Cnews, Mr. Christophe Roy, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Competition of the CANAL + Group and Mr. Emmanuel Glaser, lawyer,

Considering the following:

On the legal manager:

1. Firstly, under the provisions of article 4-2-2 of the agreement between the French Superior Audiovisual Council and the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) on November 27, 2019: " If the publisher fails to comply with a formal notice, the French Superior Audiovisual Council may, under the conditions set out in article 42-1 of the amended Act of September 30, 1986, impose one of the following legal sanctions against the publisher: / 1° a financial penalty under the conditions laid down in article 42-2 of the amended law of September 30, 1986; / 2° the suspension, for a maximum of one month, of the publication, diffusion or distribution of the service, of a program category or of one or more advertising sequences; / 3° a reduction in the duration of the authorization to use frequencies, up to a maximum of one year. "

2. Secondly, article 2-3-7 of the agreement stipulates that: " The requirement of honesty applies to all programs. The publisher shall comply with the deliberations of the French Superior Audiovisual Council relating to the honesty and independence of news and related programs. "

Article 1 of deliberation no. 2018-11 states: " The publisher of an audiovisual communication service must ensure the honesty of the information and programs that contribute to it (...) The publisher guarantees the validity and sources of each item of information. Wherever possible, the origin of the information must be indicated. Uncertain information is presented in the conditional tense. The editor demonstrates rigor in the presentation and processing of information.

3. Thirdly, in a decision dated November 3, 2016, Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I) was given formal notice to comply, in the future, with the stipulations of article 2-3-8 of the agreement of July 19, 2005 [current article 1 of deliberation no. 2018-11 of April 18, 2018 relating to the honesty and independence of news and the programs that contribute to it, to which article 2-3-7 of the agreement of November 27, 2019 refers] relating to the requirement for honesty and rigor in news.

On the "Midi News" program of July 19, 2020:

4. It appears from the report referred to above that the broadcast of the "Midi News" program on July 19, 2020 was interrupted at 1:15 pm to show a live interview with a person leaving a police station in Nantes, presented as the suspect in the fire at the cathedral in that city that had occurred the day before.

5. After a few moments, it turned out that this person was a stranger to the Nantes cathedral fire. The program then resumed on another subject. The female presenter, who had previously ensured " live priority with the individual who had been arrested ", did not correct this information during the program.

6. As a result, incorrect information was brought to the public's attention when a person was presented on air as the person suspected of being responsible for the Nantes cathedral fire, in the absence of sufficient prior verification and without viewers being clearly and immediately informed that this sequence was in fact a misunderstanding. In these circumstances, there has been a breach of the provisions of article 1 of deliberation no. 2018-11 of April 18, 2018 relating to the honesty and independence of news and related programs, to which article 2-3-7 of the November 27, 2019 agreement refers.

7. The failure to comply justifies the imposition of a financial penalty on Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) and an order that this penalty be published in the Journal officiel de la République française and on the Arcom website. In view of all these factors, and taking into account the correction made by the channel and the apology made on air at 4:33 pm on the day the sequence was shown, the penalty notice should be set at 1 euro.

After deliberation,

Decides :

Article 1

A fine of 1 euro is imposed on Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.). This sum will be allocated to the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée in application of article L. 116-5 of the Code du cinéma et de l'image animée.

Article 2

The present decision will be notified to the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) and published in the Journal officiel de la République française and on the Authority's website.

Deliberated on April 20, 2022 by Mr Roch-Olivier Maistre, Chairman, Ms Carole Bienaimé Besse, Mr Jean-François Mary, Mr Hervé Godechot, Ms Juliette Théry, Mr Benoît Loutrel, Ms Anne Grand d'Esnon, Ms Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier and Mr Denis Rapone, members.

Paris, April 20, 2022.

For the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication :
Le président,
R.-O. Maistre