Petition to ban French TV channel CNews passes 500,000 signatures
A petition calling for the right-wing French television channel CNews to be shut down passed 500,000 signatures on Monday. Anger has grown after a racist attack in the Paris suburbs in which a man of Congolese origin was killed.
A petition demanding that the French television channel CNews be taken off the air passed 500,000 signatures on Monday. The channel, which is often compared to the US right-wing network Fox News, is accused of pushing far-right views. Signatures surged after an attack on October 23 in which a Frenchman of Congolese origin was killed and seven other people, including a child, were wounded. The row comes just six months before France votes for a new president.
The attack and the accusations against the channel
The attack took place in the western Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verrière. According to a prosecutor, a 39-year-old man has been charged with murder and attempted murder. He reportedly said he was targeting people who appeared to be Muslim, African or North African. Acquaintances told French media he was an avid viewer of CNews, while left-wing politicians have accused such media of giving too much airtime to anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The petition and the political context
The independent petition, launched in June and hosted on the website of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, calls the channel a "propaganda machine". Passing 500,000 signatures means the issue could be debated in the lower house, although that does not happen automatically.
Critics say CNews increasingly follows the line of Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party. Polls show Le Pen leading the race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron. The channel could benefit if she wins and keeps her promise to privatise public broadcasting, which CNews has long criticised.
CNews is owned by the ultra-conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré. It told AFP it would not comment on a "political petition". It has previously denied promoting far-right views or racist tropes, saying it defends freedom of expression.
At a rally in Aubervilliers a few days after the attack, protesters held up posters reading "CNews kills". Two Green lawmakers have urged the lower house to withdraw the channel's accreditation. On October 17, protesters threw projectiles and broke windows at the channel's Paris headquarters.
