Arcom imposes a penalty of 3.5 million euros, following the insults of the presenter of “Touche pas à mon poste” against the deputy.
By Olivier Ubertalli
© LP/Olivier Lejeune / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/MAXPPP
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“T‘are a shit’, ‘moron’, ‘con,’ ‘buffoon’… The violent insults uttered against Louis Boyard, deputy of La France insoumise and former columnist of the C8 program, had marked the spirits, during the show Do not touch My TV of November 10, 2022. The sanction finally fell. Arcom (ex-CSA) imposed a fine of 3.5 million euros on Thursday against the C8 channel, which belongs to the Vivendi group controlled by Vincent Bolloré and his family. The audiovisual regulator considered in particular that Cyril Hanouna’s remarks “have infringed the rights of the guest, the respect of his honor and his reputation, in disregard of the stipulations of article 2-3-4 of the service agreement. Canal +, which publishes the C8 channel, deplores “this decision taking nothing into account of the behavior” of Louis Boyard, who had notably launched: “You are irresponsible Cyril and you are hurting France. You are raising racism in France and we are not even allowed to criticize Bolloré on your channel? The subsidiary of Vivendi will appeal against the sanction of Arcom. Justice will rule on the respective complaints of defamation of Louis Boyard and Cyril Hanouna.
It is a projection of the young deputy of La France insoumise against Vincent Bolloré, owner with Vivendi of C8 and the Canal + group, which earned him in return an attack in good standing and in a pack from the presenter against the elected to defend his employer. “Stop telling it to yourself! Such a moron. If you are a deputy, it is thanks to us, ”said Cyril Hanouna in particular. A good sequence for the ratings, but “degrading for the public debate and the people on the set”, according to Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly. “We are dealing with two smart people from the political and media system caught at their own game”, judged François Cornut-Gentille, former LR deputy and author of To know in order to be able. Getting out of democratic impotence (Gallimard, 2021).
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The art of mastering your antenna
This fine comes five years after C8 had to pay a fine of 3 million euros, following other remarks by Cyril Hanouna. The presenter of Do not touch My TV had carried out a hoax considered homophobic. If the Arcom has not suspended the program and nor withdrawn the channel’s broadcasting authorization, two extremely rare cases, it still orders the Vivendi channel to better control its antenna and better “guarantee the independence of the ‘information. »
Arcom “considered that the sequence reflected a lack of knowledge by the publisher of its obligation to control its antenna, listed in article 2-2-1 of its agreement”, indicates a press release from the independent authority. In addition, Arcom adopted a second decision, in which it “formalised the channel to comply in the future with the stipulations of article 2-3-8 of its agreement relating to honesty and the independence of the information and of the programs which contribute to it”. She considered that “the guest had been explicitly prevented from expressing a critical point of view on set with regard to a shareholder of the Canal+ Group, to which the C8 television service belongs and that, consequently, the program had not been carried out under conditions which guarantee the independence of the information. »
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A Macron-Bolloré duel?
In recent weeks, relations between the Vivendi-Canal +-Hanouna galaxy and the government of Elisabeth Borne have continued to become strained. At the microphone of France Inter this Thursday morning, the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, in charge of the media, judged “inadmissible” the call for the privatization of public broadcasting by the star of C8, Cyril Hanouna, invoking public service investment in “educational programs”, “documentaries” or “French creation”. “Privatize that for me”, had launched in mid-January the host of Do not touch My TVwhich brings together more than a million spectators each evening.
A diatribe already launched in response to statements by the minister recalling the possibility for Arcom to withdraw from CNews and C8 the frequency made available to them when they do not respect their obligations. “We were deeply shocked by the remarks made by the Minister of Culture”, Rima Abdul Malak, during the morning of France Inter, declared in a press release Canal+. “Nearly five minutes of his intervention were devoted to criticism of our group and to invectives against our channels C8 and CNews”, complained the audiovisual group. A pass of arms which is not likely to settle the enmity between President Emmanuel Macron and Vincent Bolloré…