Fake News (France)

source: Le Monde

author: Le Monde, AFP, Reuters

translation: doxa-louise

MACRON PROPOSES A LAW AGAINST FALSE INFORMATION
DURING AN ELECTORAL PERIOD
 
This proposed law will be presented 'probably within the year',
advanced, Thursday, government spokesperson, Benjamin Griveaux.

Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, January 3, that a 'proposed
statement of law' would soon be presented to counter the propagation of
fake news on the Internet during any electoral period. The head of government
promised this future text while offering his new year's wishes to the press, essentially
concerned with the economic aspects of media, and delivered to a group made
up of journalists and actors within media. This proposed law will be brought forward
'probably before the end of the year', added the government's spokesperson, Benjamin
Griveaux.

'We will advance the evolution of our judicial system to protect democratic
life from these false news', declared Emmanuel Macron during his speech.
'Platforms will see themselves burdened with obligations for greater transparency
with respect to all sponsored content thus making public the identity of all
backers and those who control them, but also to limit the amounts allowed
to such content', he added.

The head of government, himself victim of much false information amply
circulated on social media during the Presidential campaign, castigated 'such
propaganda put forth with thousands of accounts on social media', which, 'in
an instant can spread all over the world, in all languages, grotesque lies to
sully an elected official, a well-know politician, a public figure, a journalist'.

'For cases of propagation of false news, it will become possible to go before
a judge and if approved, suppress the contentious content, dereference the site,
close the user account, even block all access to the Internet.'

Extended Powers for the CSA

M. Macron also made clear the the powers of the Conseil supérieur de l'ausiovisuel
(CSA) 'would be widened to fight against all attempts at destabilization by television
services controlled or influenced by foreign governments'.

'Thus it will be possible(...) to refuse to conclude on agreements with such services',
or to'suspend or annul' these agreements 'taking into account all the contents edited
by these services, including Internet', added M.Macron. Recently, M. Macron had
offered criticism of two Russian media, RT and Sputnik, accused of having behaved during
the Presidential election 'like opinion dealers and purveyors of(...) and false propaganda'.

The head of state has as well called for ' a taking greater responsibility by platforms
and content-providers on Internet', while asking the journalistic profession to take up a
deontological 'self-examination'. In this context, 'the suggestion by Reporters sans frontières
to create a form of certification for those press organs that uphold the deontology
of the profession seems interesting and welcome', he hailed.

Legislation on Publicly Funded Audiovisual

The President also used the occasion to confirm a new law orienting public
audiovisual 'before the end of the year' 2018. More precisely:
'By the end of the first trimester 2018, one should see agreed on propositions,
with numbers and means, leading to a transformative scenario to be put in place
by the instances in support of the Minister of Culture.'

These propositions 'should be the result of a large debate with all professionals
concerned' added the head of State, who explained that these reflections would draw
inspiration 'from various European and international models'.