FRANCE

Expert assessments: Sanctions

This citation is generally accurate in that the CSA’s sanctioning powers include the right to terminate and revoke broadcasting licenses. The High Council for Broadcasting (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel – CSA) regularly imposes sanctions, although the most common penalty is a formal notice.99 The CSA has also revoked many broadcasting licenses for more serious violations—often for repeated breaches of licensing and frequency-usage agreements or provisions regarding incitement to hatred—although to date this level of sanction has been imposed mostly on radio broadcasters. It should be noted, too, that the CSA’s sanctioning powers apply to public and commercial broadcasters, Internet-based TV and radio, and on-demand media, but does not include the print and online press, which are largely self-regulated and bound to rules in separate legislation and subject to sanctions by the French courts.

The CSA may impose a range of penalties—including formal notices, fines, sanctions and termination—for breaches to content and competition-related regulations in the Freedom of Communication Act of 1986, media-related provisions in the penal codes, various broadcasting decrees issued by French Parliament, and the CSA’s own resolutions.100 In particular, it monitors compliance with regulations regarding the protection of human dignity and public order, pluralism of opinions, protection of minors, provisions on the proportion of European films and audiovisual works, rules on teleshopping, advertising and product placement, and provisions regarding the defense of French language.101 Since 1996, the CSA has also supervised compliance with the requirement that private radio stations broadcast a minimum of 40 percent of French-language songs.102

In addition to monitoring compliance with content-based regulations, the CSA also ensures observance with the rules on competition and concentration in the field of audiovisual communication. The CSA’s supervision over commercial communications and product placement is generally quite strict. For instance, the CSA in 2011 announced that broadcasters are no longer permitted to refer audiences to their Facebook or Twitter sites, on grounds this violates rules on product placement.103

Upon determining a breach to the above mentioned regulations, the CSA may first serve producers and distributors of radio or television broadcasting services with a formal notice to comply with these obligations.104 If a producer or a distributor of a radio or television broadcasting service fails to comply with the formal notice served, the CSA may, considering the seriousness of the breach, issue one of the following penalties:
• Suspension of the authorisation or a part of the programme for a maximum of one month at most;
• Reduction of the term of the authorisation within the limit of one year;
• A pecuniary penalty possibly accompanied by a suspension of the authorisation or • a part of the programme if the breach does not constitute a criminal offence; Withdrawal of the authorisation.105

The amount of financial penalties is determined according to the severity of the breach committed; however, the fines may not exceed 3 percent of the total revenue of the previous years income, and 5 percent in the case of a repeated breach to the same regulation.106 The CSA frequently issues fines – in 2010, for instance, the CSA fined France Télévisions EUR 100,000 for repeated violations to regulations on information ethics after the station aired a program in which it revealed the name of a child who was killed during a sexual assault.107

In the event a media outlet within France’s jurisdiction broadcasts programs in breach of the fundamental principles laid down in the Freedom of Communications Act of 1986, including respect of human dignity, pluralism of opinion, law and order, protection of minors, and incitement to hatred or violence on grounds of gender, lifestyle, religion or nationality, the CSA is entitled to order the termination of the channel’s transmission. The CSA can withdraw a license without formal notice in cases in which the media outlet fails to report substantial changes in the data on which the license was granted, including changes to ownership, management and shareholder status.108

As noted above, the CSA has used its suspension and revocation powers in many instances, and often these cases have been related to technical violations of licensing agreements or to breaches of regulations regarding commercial communications and product placement. Appeals against the CSA’s decisions can be filed with the Conseil d’Etat, in which case the decision is suspended until the Court issues a decision, unless the license revocation was initiated on grounds the media outlet violated public order, public security or health.109 The Conseil d’Etat must issue a ruling within three months. The judgement of the Conseil d’Etat cannot be appealed; hence, it is often said that the Conseil d’Etat is the “juge en premier et dernier resort (the judge of the first and last resort).”

context,” Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, December 20, 2010, available at: http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/news/criticisms-and-answers-formulated-on-the-subject-of-the-proposed-media-act-examined-in-a-european-context 99 For instance in 2010, the CSA handed down 91 formal notices, initiated 7 penalty proceedings, and imposed 4 sanctions. See CSA Annual Report 2010: http://www.csa.fr/upload/publication/Syntanglaisrap2010.pdf. 100 Freedom of Communication Act (No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986), not including 2009 amendments, available in French at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/libertecom.htm; an unofficial English-language translation of the amended Act (Number 2009-258 of 5 March 2009) provided by the University of Luxembourg, available at: wwwfr.uni.lu/content/download/31271/371434/.../France_translation_1.pdf. 101 See “Le contrôle des programmes” on the CSA’s website at: http://www.csa.fr/infos/controle/controle_intro.php 102 See rules regarding language quotas for private radio on the CSA’s website at: http://www.csa.fr/infos/controle/radio_quotas_accueil.php. 103 “French media can tweet -- but can’t mention Twitter,” Reuters, 7 June , 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-france-tweets-idUSTRE7561V620110607. 104 Article 42 of the Freedom of Communications Act 1986, (No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986), not including 2009 amendments, available in French at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/libertecom.htm; an unofficial English-language translation of the amended Act (Number 2009-258 of 5 March 2009) provided by the University of Luxembourg, available at: wwwfr.uni.lu/content/download/31271/371434/.../France_translation_1.pdf. 105 Article 42(1) of Freedom of Communications Act 1986 (No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986), not including 2009 amendments, available in French at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/libertecom.htm; an unofficial English-language translation of the amended Act (Number 2009-258 of 5 March 2009) provided by the University of Luxembourg, available at: wwwfr.uni.lu/content/download/31271/371434/.../France_translation_1.pdf. 106 Article 42(2) of the Freedom of Communications Act 1986 (No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986), not including 2009 amendments, available in French at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/libertecom.htm; an unofficial English-language translation of the amended Act (Number 2009-258 of 5 March 2009) provided by the University of Luxembourg, available at: wwwfr.uni.lu/content/download/31271/371434/.../France_translation_1.pdf. 107 Decisions of the CSA, “Ethics of information: financial penalty of 100,000 euros for France 2,” Plenary Meeting December 7, 2010. http://www.csa.fr/actualite/decisions/decisions_detail.php?id=132143. 108 Article 42(9) of the Freedom of Communications Act 1986, (No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986), not including 2009 amendments, available in French at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/libertecom.htm; an unofficial English-language translation of the amended Act (Number 2009-258 of 5 March 2009) provided by the University of Luxembourg, available at: wwwfr.uni.lu/content/download/31271/371434/.../France_translation_1.pdf. 109 Article 42(9) of the Freedom of Communications Act 1986, (No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986), not including 2009 amendments, available in French at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/libertecom.htm; an unofficial English-language translation of the amended Act (Number 2009-258 of 5 March 2009) provided by the University of Luxembourg, available at: wwwfr.uni.lu/content/download/31271/371434/.../France_translation_1.pdf.