French MPs weigh debate on banning conservative TV channel as petition tops 1m

Launched in June on the National Assembly's online petition platform, the petition calls for CNews to be taken off air, describing the channel as “a propaganda machine”.

The Cultural Affairs Committee of the National Assembly met last Tuesday after the petition passed the 500,000 signature threshold the previous day.

Signatures surged following a racist attack in Trappes, a suburb of Paris, on 23 October. The attack left a French man of Congolese origin dead and seven others injured.

Paris suburb shooting suspect 'targeted Muslims, Africans or North Africans'

People who knew the alleged shooter said he was an avid viewer of CNews, the most watched 24-hour news channel in France.

The committee is due to meet again this Tuesday to vote on whether or not to organise a debate over banning the channel in the full chamber, in accordance with parliamentary rules.

CNews, one of several media outlets owned by French ultra-conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, is regularly accused of airing racist and Islamophobic content, and has been sanctioned several times by Arcom, France's broadcasting regulator.

The channel, which rejects the allegations and says it is defending freedom of expression, has received support from figures on the right and far right

Jordan Bardella, leader of the far right National Rally, speaking on CNews on Friday, accused the hard left France Unbowed party of harbouring “totalitarian tendencies” by seeking to shut down the channel and preventing his party from expressing its views.

The question of whether or not to ban the channel comes less than six months before the presidential election, in which far right candidate Marine Le Pen is leading in the polls as she seeks to succeed Emmanuel Macron.

The National Assembly's online petition platform was launched in 2020, following the national debate initiated in response to the Yellow Vest crisis.

Until now, the only other petition to have exceeded one million signatures was one against new rules allowing farmers to use a banned pesticide.

(with AFP)