L'Heure des pros 2" to be shown on February 1, 2021: CNews served with formal notice
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. 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 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 1;
Considering the broadcast report on the program "L'heure des pros 2" shown on the "Cnews" service on February 1, 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 November 27, 2019, the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication may give formal notice to the Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) to abide by the obligations imposed on it ;
2. On the other hand, under the provisions of the third paragraph of article 3-1 of the law of September 30, 1986, " 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 " affirming the principle of freedom of communication to the public by electronic means. On this basis, article 1 of the deliberation of April 18, 2018 stipulates that the publisher " must ensure the honesty of the information and programs that contribute to it / [...] / He demonstrates rigor in the presentation and processing of information ". Furthermore, article 2-3-7 of the November 27, 2019 agreement stipulates that " the requirement of honesty applies to all programs. The publisher respects the deliberations of the French Superior Audiovisual Council on the honesty and independence of news and the programs that contribute to it ". Finally, article 2-2-1 of this agreement makes provision for " the publisher to be responsible for the content of the programs it shows. In all circumstances, it retains control of its broadcasting schedule ";
On the program "L'heure des pros 2" shown on February 1, 2022:
3. The broadcast report for the "L'heure des pros 2" program on February 1, 2022 shows that, during this current affairs debate program, one of the program's columnists mentioned the Warsaw ghetto and its historical origins;
As regards the obligation of honesty and rigor in the presentation and treatment of information:
4. It appears from the broadcast report that a columnist on the show, reacting to remarks made by a doctor about the treatment reserved for people not vaccinated against covid-19, said in particular: " You can't draw a parallel between the condition of the unvaccinated and the condition of the Jews, if that's what you want me to say, that's not what he's saying either, he's saying that you have to be careful with hygienist segregation, because in hygienist segregation, remember that when the Warsaw ghetto was created in 1940, it was a, it was a place of contaminants, uh mi, a place of contaminated. It was first and foremost a hygienic place ", adding " Yes, that's what the ghetto was, a hygienic place, a place designed to protect against typhus. And so, naturally, the comparison stops there, we can't go much further than that, but in spite of everything, this segregation that has been established, in the name of a State hygienism, is totally totalitarian. " ;
5. There is a consensus in the scientific community that the health reasons put forward by Nazi Germany to justify the creation of the Warsaw ghetto in October 1940 were a pretext for regrouping the Jews, the first stage in their extermination;
6. Consequently, the publisher cannot be considered to have demonstrated honesty and rigor in the presentation and processing of information. It has thus disregarded the stipulations of article 2-3-7 of its agreement and the provisions of article 1 of the deliberation of April 18, 2018, to which it refers ;
With regard to the obligation to control the airwaves:
7. It is also clear from the broadcast report that the columnist's comments did not elicit any reaction from those on set during the sequence, which characterizes a lack of on-air control, constituting a breach of the stipulations of article 2-2-1 of the agreement ;
8. It follows from the foregoing that Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) to comply, in the future, on the one hand, with the aforementioned stipulations of article 2-3-7 of the November 27, 2019 agreement as well as with the provisions of article 1 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 and, on the other hand, with article 2-2-1 of this same agreement;
After deliberation,
Decides :
Article 1
Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.) is hereby given formal notice to comply in the future, with regard to the "Cnews" television service, with the aforementioned stipulations of article 2-3-7 of the November 27, 2019 agreement as well as with the provisions of article 1 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, and with article 2-2-1 of the same agreement.
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.
Paris, May 10th 2022.
For the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication :
The Chairman,
R.-O. Maistre
Decision no. 2022-289 of May 10, 2022 giving formal notice to Société d'exploitation d'un service d'information (S.E.S.I.)
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