Petition Calling to Ban CNews Exceeds 600,000 Signatures

A citizen-led petition hosted on the French National Assembly website calling to remove the television channel CNews from France's broadcast landscape surpassed 600,000 authenticated signatures. Launched in June by an individual, the petition gained sudden momentum following a recent racist attack in Trappes, jumping rapidly from roughly 100,000 signatures.

The petition's text characterizes CNews, a network owned by billionaire Vincent Bolloré's media empire, as a propaganda machine comparable to American cable network Fox News. The surge in public support prompted various political reactions across France, with the left-wing party La France Insoumise praising the milestone and vowing to dismantle the billionaire's media group if they attain power.

Conversely, political opponents and network representatives defended the channel. Jérémie Patrier-Leitus, a lawmaker and spokesperson for presidential hopeful Édouard Philippe, stated that "in a democracy, we do not shut down media outlets." Meanwhile, CNews declined to comment directly on the petition but noted that it remains a leading news channel in terms of audience share.

Under the rules of the National Assembly, a petition that exceeds 500,000 signatures from at least 30 different departments qualifies for consideration for a debate in the legislative chamber. However, a parliamentary committee must first review the text and decide whether to examine it or formally file it away without further debate. Green Party lawmaker Sophie Taillé-Polian urged an emergency meeting of the cultural affairs committee to ensure the discussion takes place.

Critics and local officials have accused certain media outlets, particularly CNews, of bearing responsibility for stoking social tensions by repeatedly broadcasting discourse that stigmatizes immigrants and minority communities. These accusations intensified significantly after a 39-year-old French national allegedly targeted individuals of African and Muslim descent during the late-October attack in Trappes.

CNews has consistently refuted allegations that it promotes far-right ideologies, maintaining instead that it defends freedom of speech and covers critical issues such as security and immigration that other media outlets overlook. The channel was previously formally put on notice in June by France's audiovisual regulatory authority, Arcom, to correct a sustained imbalance in political opinions regarding immigration and Islam.

The regulatory body possesses the ultimate authority over broadcast licenses, ranging from formal warnings and financial penalties to reductions in broadcasting rights or the withdrawal of authorization. Arcom officials did not immediately comment on the petition. The network has faced several additional controversies throughout the year regarding its programming choices and commentators, drawing ongoing scrutiny from government officials and watchdogs.