Decision of February 9, 2023 giving formal notice to C8

The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication,

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

Having regard to decision no. 2003-309 of June 10, 2003, as amended and extended, authorizing Bolloré Media, now Direct 8 and then C8, to use a radioelectric resource to operate a national free-to-air digital terrestrial television service called C8, and decision no. 2019-214 of May 29, 2019 renewing this authorization;

Having regard to the agreement entered into between the French Superior Audiovisual Council and C8 on May 29, 2019 concerning the C8 television service, in particular articles 2-3-8 and 4-2-1 ;

Having regard to deliberation no. 2018-11 of April 18, 2018 of the French Superior Audiovisual Council relating to the honesty and independence of news and the programs that contribute to it, in particular article 4; Having regard to the broadcast report on the "Touche pas à mon poste" news programme shown on the C8 television service on November 10, 2022;

Considering the following:

On the legal manager:

1. Firstly, by virtue of the provisions of article 42 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 and the stipulations of article 4-2-1 of the agreement of May 29, 2019, the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication may give formal notice to C8 to abide by the obligations imposed on it.

2. Secondly, under the provisions of article 2-3-8 of the May 29, 2019 agreement, "the publisher shall comply with the deliberation of the French Superior Audiovisual Council relating to the honesty and independence of news and the programs that contribute to it". This decision was taken on the basis of the third paragraph of article 3-1 of the law of September 30, 1986, which stipulates that "the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication guarantees the honesty, independence and plurality of information and the programs that contribute to it, subject to article 1 of [this] law", which affirms the principle of freedom of communication to the public by electronic means.

3. Lastly, article 4 of the deliberation of April 18, 2018 stipulates that: "The publisher of an audiovisual communication service shall ensure that news programmes and the programmes that contribute to them are produced under conditions that guarantee the independence of information, in particular with regard to the economic interests of its shareholders and advertisers."

On the "Touche pas à mon poste" program of November 10, 2022

4. According to the record of the broadcast of the show "Touche pas à mon poste" on C8 on November 10, 2022, a guest, a member of parliament and former columnist on the show, was invited to speak on the subject of welcoming migrants on board a humanitarian ship. As he began to speak on the theme of the unequal breakdown of wealth and, as such, on the activities in Africa of one of the channel's shareholders, he was interrupted by the show's female presenter, who exclaimed, among other things: "You know you're in the Canal group here. You mean the Bolloré group. You know you're in the Bolloré group here. [...] What the hell are you doing here? What the hell are you doing here? What the hell are you doing here then? [...]. ". Questioned by the guest about his inability to criticize a channel shareholder, the female presenter, along with some of the show's columnists, then behaved aggressively towards him, using abusive language. During the nine-minute-long sequence, the presenter made the following comments: "I don't even know what you're talking about [...], that's not why we came here. [...]. Then why did you come? Why did you come? [...]. Why did you take money when we took you on as a columnist? Why did you come? [...]. You didn't mind taking money when you were here [...]. We don't even know what you're talking about. [...]. I don't spit in the hand that feeds me and you shouldn't spit on the hand that fed you. [...] ".

5. Thus, the guest was explicitly prevented from expressing on set a point of view critical of a shareholder of the Canal + Group, to which the C8 television service belongs. As a result, the program was not carried out in conditions that guaranteed the independence of the news from the economic interests of one of its shareholders.

6. This situation characterizes a breach by the publisher of the aforementioned stipulations of article 2-3-8 of its agreement and the aforementioned provisions of article 4 of the deliberation of April 18, 2018, to which it refers.

7. It follows from the foregoing that C8 should be given formal notice to comply, in the future, with the aforementioned stipulations of article 2-3-8 of the agreement of May 29, 2019, as well as with the aforementioned provisions of article 4 of deliberation no. 2018-11 of April 18, 2018 of the French Superior Audiovisual Council relating to the honesty and independence of news and the programs that contribute to it.

After deliberation,

Decides:

Art. 1. - C8 is hereby given formal notice to comply in the future, with regard to the "C8" television service, with the aforementioned stipulations of article 2-3-8 of the agreement of May 29, 2019, as well as with the aforementioned provisions of article 4 of deliberation no. 2018-11 of April 18, 2018 of the French Superior Audiovisual Council relating to the honesty and independence of information and the programs that contribute to it.

Art. 2 - The present decision will be notified to C8 and published in the Journal officiel de la République française.

Signed in Paris,

February 9, 2023.

For the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication

Chairman,

R.-O. MAISTRE