Petition gains momentum

A petition calling for the removal of CNews from French audiovisual media has seen a significant increase in signatures since a racist attack in Trappes. The threshold of 300,000 signatories was crossed on Saturday, October 31. The petition describes the channel of the Bolloré group as a "propaganda machine."

Rapid growth in support

The petition, submitted on the National Assembly's platform for citizen petitions on June 10, initially remained with relatively little attention. However, in recent days, the number of signatories has increased rapidly. It crossed the 100,000 signature threshold on Thursday, the 200,000 mark on Friday, and surpassed the 300,000 threshold on Saturday afternoon.

Accusations of racist content

According to the author of the petition, Lucas Massoni, since 2019, CNews has accumulated 27 warnings from Arcom and 630,000 euros in fines, which he claims is the highest record among French audiovisual media. He cited examples of content on the channel, including comparisons of Black French people to "great apes" and "primitive tribes," and the mocking of the origins of Aya Nakamura and Rima Hassan.

Calls for regulatory action

Massoni noted that the fines imposed on CNews are willingly paid by Vincent Bolloré, the main shareholder of the channel, as long as the signal remains on air. He mentioned that Arcom, the audiovisual regulation authority, can unilaterally withdraw a TNT convention in case of recurrence, but he doubted such a scenario would occur without public pressure.

Racist attack fuels backlash

The success of the petition coincides with the racist attack in Trappes and La Verrière (Yvelines), which resulted in one death and seven injured on Friday, October 24. Political officials believe that certain statements made on continuous news channels, particularly CNews, contribute to creating a deleterious and dangerous climate.

Political reactions and exclusion

Last Tuesday, a CNews team was unable to attend a press conference organized by the ecologist elected official at the Palais-Bourbon with the mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh (Génération.s). The mayor acknowledged an "allergy" toward the channel, stating that if CNews had been present, he might not have been able to stay.

Petition's next steps

The petition, which has now moved from the platform to the National Assembly's website, could soon reach 500,000 signatures. A threshold that would open the way to a possible debate in the hemicycle of the Palais-Bourbon. For this, it must be that the 500,000 signatures come from at least 30 departments or overseas collectivities.

Limitations of citizen petitions

However, a debate in the National Assembly would not lead to the closure of CNews, as requested by the petition, nor even to the automatic examination of a legislative text, or to the initiation of a procedure by Arcom. Recently, two petitions have exceeded 500,000 signatures, one against the Duplomb law, which led to a debate in the hemicycle, the other against the bill proposing a "presumption of legitimate use of weapons" by law enforcement, which was classified without further action.