A petition on the National Assembly website to “remove CNews from French broadcasting” exceeded 700,000 signatures on Tuesday, November 3. Launched in June by an individual, this text gained popularity after the racist attack in Trappes (Yvelines) and the criticism leveled by left-wing political leaders against the Bolloré galaxy channel, accused of broadcasting discriminatory remarks and favoring the extreme right. Can this mobilization really lead to its ban? Franceinfo answers four questions on the subject.
1 What follow-up to the National Assembly after the petition?
According to the regulations of the National Assembly, a debate in the hemicycle around a petition can be organized if it passes the milestone of 500,000 signatories from 30 different departments. This was particularly the case for the Duplomb law. But a commission must first decide whether to classify or examine it. The Assembly's Cultural Affairs Committee must therefore "examine in the coming days the classification or organization of a debate", according to its president Alexandre Portier (LR), to franceinfo.
Beyond this threshold, the organization of a debate is not systematic. A previous petition against the law on the presumption of legitimate use of firearms by the police had well exceeded 500,000 signatures but was closed by the MPs who are members of the Laws Committee in July.
If a debate in the hemicycle were organized, it could not lead to a closure of the news channel either. “It is not up to us to do it: we do not have the power to do so and that is fortunate,” recalled environmentalist MP Sophie Taillé-Polian during a press conference. “But we have the capacity to change the law if Arcom’s means are not powerful enough,” she added. Like the four left-wing groups in the National Assembly, it is asking for a debate to be held in the hemicycle.
2 Who can close a television channel?
The closure of a TNT channel is the responsibility of the audiovisual regulator, Arcom. Asked by AFP, he did not comment on the petition calling for the closure of CNews. The independent administrative authority grants channels and radio stations the right to broadcast subject to obligations, such as respect for the diversity of opinions or the prohibition of broadcasting discriminatory remarks.
If these rules are violated, Arcom acts gradually: formal notice, financial sanction, temporary reduction of the right to broadcast, and, finally, withdrawal of the authorization, as recalled on its website. After having imposed millions of euros in fines, Arcom decided in 2024 not to renew the TNT frequency of C8, where host Cyril Hanouna was officiating. Like CNews, C8 belonged to the Canal+ group. In March 2022, the RT channel, close to the Kremlin, also stopped broadcasting following sanctions taken by the European Union after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Already fined for sequences likely to incite hatred or discrimination, CNews was, for its part, given notice last June by Arcom to correct a “manifest and lasting imbalance in the expression of currents of thought and opinion” on its channel, in particular “on the threat that immigration and Islam represent for French society”. The channel contested before the Council of State. In the meantime, CNews' broadcasting authorization was renewed in December 2024 and until 2035, recalls Arcom.
3 Which political leaders are calling for sanctions against the channel?
In parallel with the petition launched on the National Assembly website, many left-wing political leaders called for the closure of CNews. Several deputies from La France insoumise (LFI) notably welcomed, on The mayor of Trappes (Génération.s), Ali Rabeh, also accused CNews of having responsibility for the racist attack of October 23, in which a 39-year-old Frenchman, Kévin Tessier, is suspected of having deliberately shot "people (...) of the Muslim or African or North African type", according to the national anti-terrorism prosecutor. The mayor of Trappes targeted the channel for giving too much space to speech stigmatizing immigrants or their descendants.
Voices were also raised in the rest of the left. The environmentalist senator from Paris Yannick Jadot thus demanded, on franceinfo, "a much harsher repressive arsenal against racism", in particular against "what is spread in the media", particularly pointing the finger at the CNews channel. “Arcom must do its job,” requested Raphaël Glucksmann’s support for the presidential election.
4 What does CNews respond?
“We will not comment on this political petition,” CNews simply declared to AFP, which boasted on Monday of remaining at the top of the news channels in October, tied with its competitor BFMTV, at 3.6% audience share, according to Médiamétrie. The channel has always refuted accusations of promoting far-right views, saying instead it defends freedom of expression.
Several right-wing and far-right elected officials also defended the channel, like Marine Le Pen. “CNews is part of the French audiovisual landscape. Its broadcasts, its editorialists and its debates participate in the confrontation of ideas which constitutes the very foundation of a living democracy,” wrote the candidate for the presidential election on
