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On 19 April 2018 the Conseil d’Etat made public its opinion on the proposed legislation to combat fake news that is to be examined by Parliament in the next few weeks. Since the 2008 revision of the Constitution, the leader of either of the Assemblies may submit proposed legislation to the Conseil d’État for its opinion, and 2015 saw the end of the tradition of secrecy regarding such opinions. The Conseil d’Etat observed firstly that “French law already contains a number of provisions aimed, in substance, at combating the circulation of fake news, following various separate paths of logic”. Thus,...

Legislation enacted on 20 December 2016 abolished commercial advertising during children’s programmes on public-sector television channels. In application of this legislation, a Decree adopted on 22 December 2017 added Article 27‑1 to France Televisions’ contractual specifications. It is worded as follows: “Advertising spots in programmes primarily intended for viewing by children under the age of 12. The following may not include any advertising other than generic advertisements for goods and services in respect of the health and development of children: 1. Programmes primarily intended for viewing...

As announced by the President of the Republic at the start of the year, a bill on the fight against false information was submitted to the National Assembly on 21 March, along with a draft implementing act ensuring that the bill will apply during the presidential election campaign. According to its explanatory memorandum, the bill “aims to counteract any attempts at destabilisation that could emerge during the forthcoming elections”. Three areas of reform are planned, the first of which involves the introduction of new tools aimed at combating the spread of such information. During pre-election...

On 18 February 2018 an association applied to the administrative court of appeal in Paris under the urgent procedure, calling for the suspension of the Minister for Culture’s decision to issue a cinematographic exploitation visa for the film Fifty Shades Freed that authorised its showing to all audiences. The applicant claimed firstly that the condition of urgency required by Article L. 521-1 of France’s Administrative Justice Code had been met, since it was likely that the film shown in cinema theatres would be seen by minors. The Minister for Culture claimed that the application had been lodged...

On 10 April 2018 the French government decided to publish the opinion it had asked the Conseil d’Etat to provide regarding the method for ensuring the continuity of the presidency of the national media companies (France Télévisions, Radio France, and France Médias Monde) “in the event of the early end of a president’s term of office”. The question does indeed arise, with the removal of Mathieu Gallet as president of Radio France by the national audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA), while the CSA was to interview candidates for his succession on 10, 11 and...