The Council of State rejected an appeal by the Canal + group for the cancellation of the formal notice of its news channel CNews received in 2019 after controversial remarks by Eric Zemmour on Islam and colonization from Algeria.
The French media group considered the sanction “unjustified” and “contrary to the principles of freedom of expression”.
However, the highest administrative court refused to overturn the sanction.
In its formal notice to CNews, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) demanded that the news channel “respect its obligations, particularly in terms of incitement to hatred and violence”. Canal + had filed an appeal for abuse of power with the Council of State.
During the program Facing the News on October 23, 2019, polemicist Eric Zemmour had caused consternation among viewers by equating Islam with Islamism, before mentioning the conquest of Algeria by France. The polemicist had said he had taken responsibility for the massacres of General Bugeaud in Algeria and had invited the French to do the same and take responsibility for the history of France.
It was during a debate with the socialist François Pupponi on CNews that Eric Zemmour had slipped: “When General Bugeaud arrives in Algeria. He begins to massacre Muslims and even some Jews. Well, I am on the side of General Bugeaud today. That’s what it is to be French, “he blurted out during a speech on the feeling of belonging to the French people.
