A petition urging the French government to ban a television news channel known for its hard line on immigration and crime has garnered more than 500,000 signatures amid accusations that its sensationalist coverage contributed to the racist murder of a black man.
The petition to close CNews was launched in June, but support peaked after a Frenchman of Congolese origin was killed in a racist attack in a Paris suburb on October 23.
A 39-year-old man was charged with murder and attempted murder following the incident in Trappes and La Verrière, west of Paris, during which he said he had “targeted individuals who appeared to be Muslim, African or North African”, a prosecutor said.
France: What is CNews?
French media reported that the suspect was an avid consumer of CNews, which has been described as a French version of Fox News and criticized for giving too much airtime to anti-immigration rhetoric.
The petition aiming to “remove CNews from French broadcasting” claims that the channel, which belongs to French conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, is not a news channel but a “propaganda machine”.
Critics said the CNews broadcast increasingly imitated lines adopted by Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN), which is leading the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Le Pen has promised to privatize public broadcasting in France, a policy from which CNews would benefit.
At a rally in Aubervilliers, a northern suburb of Paris, last week, demonstrators held up signs reading slogans such as “CNews kills.”
During nationwide protests against the high cost of living on October 17, demonstrators threw projectiles and broke windows at the channel’s Paris headquarters.
Meanwhile, two Green MPs have urged the lower house of the French Parliament to withdraw CNews’ accreditation in order to protect “democracy” from “racist hatred”.
Earlier this year, France expelled Russian journalist Xenia Fedorova, accused of peddling Kremlin propaganda on CNews.
CNews refuses to comment on the “political petition”
The channel was also accused of broadcasting racist remarks against Bally Bagayoko, a Frenchman of Malian origin who is mayor of Saint-Denis, the largest Paris suburb, and who became known for his role in defending students in his constituency against police violence during recent protests.
CNews, which previously denied allegations it promoted far-right views and racist tropes, saying it defended freedom of expression, told French news agency AFP it would not comment on a “political petition.”
When it launched in 2017, CNews only had a 1% market share but last year became the most watched free news channel in France.
According to the rules of the National Assembly, a public debate can be organized in Parliament if a petition collects at least 500,000 signatures.
However, a parliamentary committee must first review the petition and decide whether a debate can take place.
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