Censorship in France


France has a long history of governmental censorship, particularly in the 16th to 18th centuries, but today freedom of press is guaranteed by the French Constitution and instances of governmental censorship are limited.
There was strong governmental control over radio and television during the 1950s-70s. Today, the CSA is only responsible for overseeing the observance of French law by the media. The 1990 Gayssot Act which prohibits racist or/and religious hate speech, and time period allocated to each political party during pre-electoral periods. Furthermore, other laws prohibit homophobic hate speech, and a 1970 law prohibits the advocacy of illegal drugs. In 2016, a television ad which advocated that babies with Down Syndrome should not be aborted solely because of their syndrome ran. It was ruled anti-abortion speech and removed.
Each of these laws has been criticized by some groups, either from the left or from the far right. Others express the need for minorities to be protected from hate speech which may lead, according to them, to heinous acts and hate crimes, while still others claim that one cannot tolerate free speech concerning drugs as it is a matter of public health and moral order. However, the 2005 vote of the law on colonialism voted by the UMP conservative parliamentary majority has lifted a debate, especially among historians, concerning the legitimacy and relevancy of such "memory laws." Although a fair amount of historians are opposed to such laws, few advocate their repeal because they think that repealing democratically agreed upon laws would be a greater evil.
Finally, critics, in particular, but not only, from the left wing, have criticized economic censorship, in particular through concentration of media ownership, or the fact that Dassault or Lagardère, both military firms, control several newspapers in France, such as Le Figaro.
Overall, freedom of press is guaranteed by the French Constitution but several effective cases of censorship against newspapers, films, or radio-shows, have been registered in the history of the Fifth Republic, founded in 1958. According to Human Rights Watch, 6 percent of French people investigated for "apology for terrorism" are under the age of 14.

History of freedom of press and censorship in France

To the 18th century

Censorship in France may be traced to the middle ages. In 1275 Philip III of France put Parisian scriptoria under the control of the University of Paris which inspected manuscript books to verify that they were correctly copied. Correctness of text, not content, was the concern until the early 16th century, when tracts by Martin Luther were printed. On June 13, 1521, Francis I of France decreed that all books had to be read and approved by the Faculty of Theology of the University, and on August 3, 1521, Parlement ordered that all Lutheran books must be deposited within one week. In 1526, the Parlement of Paris and the Sorbonne issued a ban on the publishing of the Bible in French. On January 13, 1535, an extreme statute was enacted forbidding all printing under threat of hanging and closing all bookshops. This law was quickly abandoned, and Parlement formed a commission to review book printing.
In 1536 it was ordered that all medical books must be approved by the Medical Faculty of the University, and actions were taken against certain publishers of books on medicine and astrology. In 1544, the University banned the printing of any book not approved by the appropriate University officials. In 1543, the Faculty of Theology issued its first Index of prohibited books, all religious, preceding by 16 years the Vatican's issuance of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1559. The Edict of Châteaubriant issued on June 27, 1551, prohibited possessing any books listed on the University's Index; translating the Bible or works of the Church Fathers; importing books from Geneva and other places not under the Church's control; or printing or selling of any religious books written in the last 40 years.
' cahiers de doléances asking for the end of censorship, 1789. French National Archives
The state itself began to take a greater role in censorship over the University and in 1566, the Ordonnance of Moulins was issued, banning the writing, printing or selling of defamatory books attacking individuals' good reputations and requiring that all books published must be approved and include the privilege and the great seal. The state control was strengthened in 1571 by the edict of Gaillon which placed enforcement of the censorship laws in the Chancellor's office instead of the University.
The concern of the censors was "heresy, sedition and personal libel" until 1629, when censorship began to focus also on immorality and indecency. "Nevertheless... the government was never so much concerned about looseness of morals as it was about freedom of thought." Manuscripts had to be approved by the Chancellor before publication and a register of permits was maintained. During the 17th century, the University and the state fought over control of censorship, which was haphazard. In 1653, the University was stripped of authority and replaced by royal censors. The royal censors office expanded in the 18th century and banned hundreds of titles. Books that were approved were required to include the censor's name and certificate of approval. Censorship was eventually under the authority of the office of the Director of the Book Trade, the most famous of which was Lamoignon de Malesherbes. Penalties for violations ranged from confiscation of books which often were burned, fines, imprisonment and even death. In the later 18th century these rules were increasingly evaded by printers and booksellers.

The nineteenth century

The loi sur la liberté de la presse of 29 July 1881 was passed under the French Third Republic in 1881 by the then-dominant Opportunist Republicans who sought to liberalise the press and promote free public discussion. The new law swept away a swathe of earlier statutes, stating at the outset the principle that "Printing and publication are free".
Following Auguste Vaillant's assassination attempt, the first anti-terrorist laws was voted in 1893, which were quickly denounced as lois scélérates. These laws severely restricted freedom of expression. The first one condemned apology of any felony or crime as a felony itself, permitting widespread censorship of the press. The second one allowed to condemn any person directly or indirectly involved in a propaganda of the deed act, even if no killing was effectively carried on. The last one condemned any person or newspaper using anarchist propaganda :
1. Either by provocation or apology incited one or more persons to commit either robbery, or the crimes of murder, pillage, or arson ; 2. Or directed a provocation towards soldiers in the Army or Navy, with the aim of diverting them from their military duties and the obedience they owe their superiors... would be referred to the police correctional courts and punished by imprisonment for three months to two years.

The twentieth century

World War I

During World War I, postal censorship was in force, as the French state thought it necessary to control the public's morale and thus engaged in a sort of psychological warfare. Censorship was current during the war, leading to the 1915 creation of Le Canard enchaîné weekly, which used satires and other games of words to pass through "Anastasia's scissors", as was popularly called the censors.

World War II

France fell to German forces in May, 1940. The occupying German military administration set up a propaganda effort headquartered in Paris, with branches in major cities. The propaganda effort included monitoring and censorship of the French press and of publishing, film, advertising and speeches.

Fifth Republic

Censorship laws were revoked with the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958, although cases of censorship still occurred. The proclamation of the state of emergency, used during the Algerian War and also in 2005, during the civil unrest, allows the state to legally censor news articles and other media productions.
Henri Alleg's book La Question denouncing torture by the French Army during the Algerian war was censored, as well as other similar books and films, such as The Battle of Algiers.
In 2003, UMP deputy Nadine Morano called on Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to prosecute the hip-hop group Sniper for inciting violence against the police. after the 2005 riots 200 UMP deputies, led by François Grosdidier, brought a petition against several groups including Fabe, Sniper, 113, Lunatic, and others. In March of 2006 Grosdidier, frustrated by failure of court actions, proposed a law to amend the law of 29 July 1881 to explicitly remove speech protections for music and sanction racism against the majority by a minority.
In 1987 a law repressing inciting suicide was passed, after a best-selling book called "Suicide, mode d'emploi" was published in 1982. The bill was first adopted by the Senate in 1983; in 1987, during the debates before the National Assembly, the book was cited by name as a prime example of what was to be banned. This book, written by two anarchists, contained a historic and theoretical account of suicide, as well as a critical overview of ways to commit suicide. The book could not be rereleased in 1989 because of that law. The book is thus censored de facto, unavailable in all libraries and bookshops in France. It has never been translated into English.

The twenty-first century

In 2006, Interiot Minister and former President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of interfering in the management of Paris Match after it published photos of Cécilia Sarkozy with another man in New York. The firing of the Paris Match director by Hachette Filipacchi Médias coincided with several other instances of self-censorship in French media.
In April 2013 a volunteer with administrator's access to the French language Wikipedia was summoned by the direction centrale du Renseignement intérieur, a division of France's interior ministry. The volunteer was ordered to take down an article that had been online since 2009 concerning a military radio relay station at Pierre-sur Haute. DCRI claimed the article contained classified military information, for reasons that to date remain unclear, and broke French law. The volunteer, who had no connection with the article, explained "that's not how Wikipedia works" and told them he had no right to interfere with editorial content, but was told he would be held in custody and charged if he failed to comply. The article was promptly restored by a Swiss Wikipedia contributor. Christophe Henner, vice-president of Wikimedia France, said "if the DCRI comes up with the necessary legal papers we will take down the page. We have absolutely no problem with that and have made it a point of honour to respect legal injunctions; it's the method the DCRI used that is shocking."
On 15 December 2017, France's Constitutional Court rejected a bill to make visiting terrorist websites a criminal offence, citing "inviolability of freedom of communication and expression" as a reason.

Political speech

Individuals in these cases have been prosecuted for expressing political agreement or disagreement in a particular manner.
The Toubon law enacted in 1994 has the cultural goal of "reaffirming the position of the French language". It requires "the compulsory use of the French language in all written,...radio and television advertising..." As a direct consequence, advertising industry workers in France have expressed "frustration with regards to what many of them perceive as linguistic censorship." Computer software developed outside France has to have its user interface and instruction manuals translated into French to be legally used by companies in France, due to the provision of the Toubon law applying to all workplaces that "any document that contains obligations for the employee or provisions whose knowledge is necessary for the performance of one's work must be written in French." Also under this law, French language is required in all audiovisual programs, with exceptions for musical works and 'original version' films. Under a related law for television, a minimum of 60 per cent of the movies and TV series must be produced in European countries and 40 per cent in Francophone countries, and these minimums must be met during evening prime-time as well as daily overall time. The latter law is not linguistic censorship because it applies to television programs that are dubbed into French; rather it is a restriction of foreign-produced cultural content. In another law that involves censorship of both linguistic and foreign-produced content, songs in the French language on radio are protected by a minimum quota system.

Press

The press is largely unrestricted by law in France, although indirect pressures are sometimes applied to prevent publication of materials against the interests of the government or influential industries. Involvement of the government and major industrial groups, sometimes with political ties, with certain press organizations sometimes raises questions as to the ability of the press to remain truly independent and unrestricted. Examples include:
In addition, most of the press depends on advertisement to generate revenue; the question of independence from advertisers is a constant and contentious one, with repeat assertions that undesirable investigations were taken away from TV broadcasts.
However, there are examples of independence of the press, including the Canard enchaîné, a newspaper that is known for its scoops and publication thereof, even against the will of the government. In order to remain independent, the Canard does not accept advertising.

Theatre

's 1832 play Le roi s'amuse was banned after one performance. Though it depicts the escapades of Francis I of France, censors of the time believed that it also contained insulting references to King Louis-Philippe. Hugo brought a suit to permit the performance of the play, which he lost but it propelled him into celebrity as a defender of freedom of speech.

Cinema

All films intended for theatrical release have to be granted a visa by the Ministry of Culture, upon the recommendation of Commission for film classification, which can give a film one of five ratings:
Cinemas are bound by law to prevent underaged audiences from viewing films and may be fined if they fail to do so.
The Commission cannot make cuts to a film, but it can ban it, although this latter power is rarely used. In practice, this means that most films in France are categorized rather than censored.
Although there are no written guidelines as to what sort of content should receive which rating and ratings are given on a case by case basis, the commissioners typically cite violent, sexual and drug related content as reasons for higher ratings. By contrast little attention is paid to strong language. However sexual content is much less likely to produce a high rating than in many other countries, including the United States.
Films which have received comparatively mild ratings in France compared to the U.S. include:
The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel leaves the TV channels the choice of classification of a programme, but can impose penalties if the classification is too low.
There are five classifications for television programs:
Classification of films can vary between the theatrical release and television broadcast. For example, Zombieland has been classified "Tous publics" in cinema, but when it was broadcast on TV, it was classified -16. The CSA is quite permissive about offensive language and sex in relation to the United States and in the United Kingdom. For example, South Park can be broadcast at any time of the day, except adjacent to youth programming, because it is classified -10. Note that cinema-only and VOD channels have different rules.

Classification details

Classification is made by the channels through a "viewing committee" which uses some guidelines proposed by the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel to decide of a classification. The CSA exerts control at the time of broadcasting, not before, and can investigate further either after a viewer's complaint or on its own behalf. Sanctions from the CSA can range from a simple warning to a broadcasting ban.
Some of the questions that the CSA want to be asked by viewing committees when evaluating a show are the following. For a series, each episode is evaluated.
The Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel is charged to regulate televisions, both public and private. It surveys the respect of national legislation, as well as the respect of time allocated to each political party in the media during electoral periods.

Freedom of information

Freedom of information and the accountability of public servants is a constitutional right, according to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
The implementing freedom of information legislation is the Loi n°78-753 du 17 juillet 1978 portant diverses mesures d'amélioration des relations entre l'administration et le public et diverses dispositions d'ordre administratif, social et fiscal. It sets as a general rule that citizens can demand a copy of any administrative document. The , an independent administrative authority, may help in the process. Regulations specify maximal fees of reproduction. Only final versions, not work documents, may be requested. There exist a number of exemptions:
Certain exempted documents may still be available according to other statutes. For instance, some tax-related information about any taxpayer are available to any other taxpayer from the same tax district.
CADA does not have the power to order administrations to surrender documents, though it may strongly incite them to do so. However, citizens can challenge the refusal of the administration before the administrative courts. Unfortunately, these courts are overbooked, and citizens must often wait several years to have their rights examined in a fair trial. France has been declared guilty of excessive delays many times by the European Court of Human Rights.

Works cited

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