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The Act of 22 December 2018 on combatting the manipulation of news imposed a duty of cooperation on the principle on-line platform operators in a bid to combat the circulation of “fake news”. Under the Act, the national audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) may make recommendations to operators with a view to aiding them in implementing specific actions aimed at promoting the circulation of reliable news and combatting fake news that is “likely to disturb public order or compromise the integrity of any poll”. Following a series of hearings involving representatives...

As part of plans to reform the audiovisual sector (whose implementation - initially scheduled to begin before the summer but now likely to be delayed in view of the need to “make room in the legislative calendar”), the Minister for Culture announced on 26 April the launch of a public consultation process regarding the possibility of relaxing the rules for broadcasting cinematographic works on television. The rules covered by the consultation are a product of Decree No. 90‑66 of 17 January 1990 (“the Broadcasting Decree”). This text limits total broadcasting time for cinematographic works - imposing...

On 5 April 2019, the Conseil d’Etat (Council of State) issued an interesting decision concerning the age rating of a documentary film containing violent images. Previously, the company that produced the documentary “Salafistes” had asked the administrative court, on the grounds of misuse of power, to annul the Minister of Culture’s decision to grant the film an “18” certificate, at the same time ordering that the following warning be given: “This film contains extremely violent and intolerant language and images that viewers may find upsetting”. The administrative court had overturned that decision,...

The criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation has issued an important decision concerning the use of hyperlinks to criminally punishable content - in this case, a video. The case was brought after a police officer in charge of a regional département’s public security lodged a claim for damages after discovering a video containing death threats against him on the Internet. Under Article 433-3(1) and (4) of the Penal Code, the penalty for making such threats is three years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR 45,000. The defendant, who had created a direct link to the disputed video on his own website,...

At the international “Series Mania” festival held in Lille from 22 until 30 March 2019, Frédérique Bredin, President of France’s National Centre of Cinematography and the Moving Image (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée - CNC), announced the first measures in the “Series Plan” initiated last year by the then Minister for Culture. “We have to help our TV series acquire an industrial logic, making it easier to pass from one season to the next. It’s what audiences expect,” she said. The first section of the plan includes three key measures, which would only apply to original TV series. The...