French Conservative news channels CNews and Europe 1 are under investigation for their critical coverage of Marine Le Pen’s conviction.
France’s national regulator for audio-visual and digital communication, Arcom, will assess whether either channel met obligations “in terms of pluralism and honesty” while covering the trial and conviction of France’s presidential frontrunner.
A spokesperson of Arcom confirmed to Brussels Signal on April 7 the organisation was alerted in connection with both channels’ coverage of the National Rally de facto leader’s court case in which Le Pen was convicted on March 31.
“As with all other cases to which we are alerted, we will investigate the footage reported to us in accordance with this procedure,” the spokesperson said.
Arcom started the investigation after having received several referrals following the conviction of the presidential frontrunner.
In February, C8, a different TV channel from the same group as CNews, had its highly popular show Touche pas a mon poste pulled from the airwaves by the French Council of State after Arcom refused to renew its licence over a perceived lack of political pluralism.
In his introductory speech, the popular CNews host Pascal Praud said on April 1: “Nine people had decided to ban C8. This time, three judges stopped Ms Le Pen.
“It is possible that we have lost the manual for democracy in France.”
«Présidentielle de 2027 : les cartes sont rebattues» : l'édito de @PascalPraud dans #HDPros pic.twitter.com/4TFjQS89EG
— CNEWS (@CNEWS) April 1, 2025
If Arcom found that CNews and/or Europe 1 exceeded the limits set by article 434-25 of the penal code, and “sought to discredit … in conditions likely to undermine the authority of the judiciary or its independence”, then they may have committed an offence punishable by six months imprisonment and a fine of €7,500.
In February 2024, the French Council of State ruled Arcom had to tighten its control over CNews, citing “its obligations in terms of pluralism and independence of information”.
It decided that Arcom must “guarantee” that all French channels maintain “pluralistic expression, considering contributions from all programme participants, including columnists, hosts and guests, while respecting editorial freedom”.
CNews has become the most popular non-stop news channel in France. According to the latest viewership figures, it has been notching up record audiences.
