Petition to shut down CNews surpasses 500,000 signatures in France - World news

A petition calling for CNews to be removed from France’s audiovisual landscape has passed the 500,000-signature threshold, making a parliamentary debate possible. The petition must first be reviewed by an Assembly committee, which can either dismiss it or prepare a report for examination.

A petition calling to “remove CNews from French broadcasting” passed 500,000 signatures on Monday, November 2, opening the possibility of a debate in the National Assembly. Under the Assembly’s rules, a debate may be organised around a report on a petition signed by more than half a million people.

The threshold does not automatically trigger a parliamentary debate. A committee must first decide whether to dismiss the petition or examine it and prepare a report. In July, lawmakers dismissed a previous petition that had also exceeded 500,000 signatures.

Launched in June by a private individual, the petition calling for CNews to be closed saw a sharp rise in support at the end of October, after remaining below 100,000 digital signatures. CNews, which belongs to the Canal+ group, said it would not comment on what it described as a political petition.

The channel is regularly accused of promoting far-right views and themes. CNews rejects those accusations and says it defends freedom of expression. The petition describes the broadcaster as a “propaganda machine” rather than a news channel.

Criticism intensified after a racist attack in Trappes and La Verrière on October 23. According to the national counterterrorism prosecutor, the 39-year-old suspect told police that he had targeted people of Muslim, African or North African appearance. Some figures on the left, including Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh, accused media outlets, particularly CNews, of contributing to a climate that stigmatises immigrants and people from immigrant backgrounds.

In June, France’s audiovisual regulator formally warned CNews over what it called a “manifest and lasting imbalance” in the expression of different currents of thought and opinion on the channel, including coverage of immigration and Islam as alleged threats to French society.

CNews crews, particularly those working on “100% Frontières”, have also faced hostility during recent social and student demonstrations. The channel has rebroadcast images of those incidents. The Paris headquarters of CNews and Europe 1 were targeted by around 100 people on October 17, an event the two media outlets condemned as an act of intimidation.

Sources: Le Monde.