Arcom, the audiovisual regulator, has issued a formal notice to CNews, the leading news channel in 2025, for comments made on air on immigration or Islam during two sequences that could incite « discrimination »according to a decision published Tuesday, December 30 at Official Journal.
On January 29, in the program “La Grande Interview”, the mayor of Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), Marie-Hélène Thoraval, declared that the knife attacks would be “of a cultural character”their authors not being “Native French” and having “origins which are more linked with (…) l’islam ». In its decision of December 17, Arcom considered that“such a stigma”who does not have “elicited no reaction from the host” Sonia Mabrouk, is “likely to encourage discriminatory behavior”.
Then, on March 20 in the show “Morandini Live”, the journalist from the far-right media Borders Jordan Florentin presented immigrants as « masses » Who “cannot necessarily acclimatize with our values, our morals and our culture” and whose arrival in France would bring about a “big replacement”. Arcom ruled that “These comments convey many particularly defamatory stereotypes against immigrants as a whole, likely to encourage discriminatory behavior against them because of their nationality or their origin”.
Insufficient contradiction
Moreover, “if these remarks were partly contradicted, this contradiction was not sufficient”and Jean-Marc Morandini, presenter of the show, “took the side of the person who held them”according to the regulator.
Contacted by Agence France-Presse, CNews did not immediately react to Arcom’s decision.
The audiovisual regulator has the power to intervene with the channels to which it gives authorization to broadcast, to remind them of their obligations. In the scale of Arcom’s interventions, the formal notice follows the warning and can lead to a financial sanction in the event of further non-compliance with obligations.
CNews, in the hands of conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, continued its rise in 2025, becoming the leading news channel in France in terms of audiences, ahead of BFM-TV.
