France’s ‘Fake News’ Law
By: Lauren Marshall
In an age of countless news outlets and an overwhelming amount of information available at our fingertips, fake news has become an unfortunate issue for readers.[1] In an attempt to combat the so-called fake news hype, on November 20, 2018, France passed a controversial fake news law.[2] The law “aims to empower judges to order the immediate removal of ‘fake news’ during election campaigns.”[3] However, many have expressed concern that the “law against the ‘manipulation of information’ could jeopardise democracy and censor the press.”[4] Conceived by President Emmanuel Macron, the law was rejected twice by the Senate before the parliament passed the law.[5]
As Western Europe’s first attempt to officially ban false news,[6] the new policy itself may have further implications than simply making sure readers are reading correct information.[7] In fact, President Macron has said that he believes the internet must be regulated.[8]
The law allows for candidates and political parties to appeal to a judge to stop the spread of false information three months before an election.[9] Additionally, the law provides the authority for the French national broadcasting agency to suspend television channels “‘controlled by a foreign state or under the influence’ of that state if they ‘deliberately disseminate false information likely to affect the sincerity of the ballot.’”[10] Furthermore, the law specifically states “that users must be provided with ‘information that is fair, clear and transparent.’”[11] Violations of the law could mean one year in prison and a fine of €75,000.[12]
France is not the first country to attempt to curb fake news.[13] Other countries have laws requiring social media outlets to place warnings about fake news, blocking websites that post fake news or have “blatant disrespect” for the state or removing hate speech.[14] However, as many opposers of the French law have stated, this kind of censorship begs the question of how will laws like these keep abusers of the law from silencing opposition and oppressing views.[15]
France’s President Macron is specifically looking towards the recent political climate in the United States and the United Kingdom as his reasoning behind the law.[16] He believes that the current laws in place are “insufficient” against spreading false information.[17] Legally, though, there are some flaws.[18] As it stands, the law currently allows users to flag stories that they believe are false.[19] Once flagged, they disclose to authorities what action they are taking and an electoral candidate would be able to call on a judge who would have 48 hours to decide if the news should be taken down or not.[20] However, the legal field has been apt to point out that it takes months to investigate whether or not the post is false.[21] With a law specifically censoring speech, “we need a lot of caution,” when investigating and determining the veracity of an article, something that forty-eight hours would not suffice.[22]
The law has already proven to be problematic as the “French government accidentally fell foul of its own law designed to prevent the spread of fake news.”[23] The #OuiJeVote (Yes, I Vote) campaign began as an effort to encourage people to vote.[24] However, it contravened the law because the law requires paid-for political content on the platform to provide transparency about who funds it.[25] Twitter removed the content and was subsequently criticized by the French Government Information Service.[26] In an effort to save the purpose of the law, the French Government Information Service stated that Twitter failed to work out a proper way to implement the law.[27] The French Government Information Service claims that the law did not backfire against them, but Twitter simply did not know how to comply with their law.[28] Ultimately, The French Government Information Service stated that the priority of the law is to combat fake news associated with glorifying terrorism, not campaigns.[29]
Regardless, the law is fiercely opposed on both sides of the political spectrum and leaves many concerned about its effects on democracy and the sharing of ideas.[30] After being denied twice by the Senate, members of the La République en Marche party as the absolute majority in parliament backed the bill alongside their majority leader President Macron.[31] The debate on the law lasted eight hours.[32] The law has faced harsh criticism with some saying that the bill is “at best, inapplicable and thus useless, at worst, dangerous.”[33] Others have decried the bill as a “circumstantial law.”[34]
Ultimately, the fight against fake news proves to be a battle that is not easily fought. Laws against fake news must balance between the ultimate right of democracy and a forum of ideas while still ensuring readers have accurate information in front of them. France’s attempt to address this issue has shown the delicate balance between the two.
#Blogpost #France #FakeNews #LaurenMarshall #FakeNewsLaws
[1] See Davis A. Graham, Some Real News About Fake News, Atlantic (June 7, 2019), https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/fake-news-republicans-democrats/591211/.
[2] Michael-Ross Fiorentino, France Passes Controversial ‘Fake News’ Law, euronews., https://www.euronews.com/2018/11/22/france-passes-controversial-fake-news-law (last updated Nov. 22, 2018).
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] See id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] See Fathin Ungku, Factbox: ‘Fake News’ Laws Around the World, REUTERS (Apr. 2, 2019, 6:07 AM), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-politics-fakenews-factbox/factbox-fake-news-laws-around-the-world-idUSKCN1RE0XN.
[14] See id.
[15] See id; Graham, supra note 1.
[16] Ciara Nugent, France is Voting on a Law Banning Fake News. Here’s How it Could Work, TIME (June 7, 2018), https://time.com/5304611/france-fake-news-law-macron/.
[17] Id.
[18] Id.
[19] Id.
[20] Id.
[21] Id.
[22] Id.
[23] Anthony Cuthbertson, France Caught Out by its Own Fake News Law, INDEPENDENT (Apr. 4, 2019, 6:45 PM),
[24] Id.
[25] Id.
[26] Id.
[27] Id.
[28] Id.
[29] Id.
[30] Fiorentino, supra note 2.
[31] Zachary Young, French Parliament Passes Law Against ‘Fake News’, POLITICO (July 4, 2018, 12:44 PM), https://www.politico.eu/article/french-parliament-passes-law-against-fake-news/.
[32] Id.
[33] Id. (internal quotations omitted).
[34] Id. (internal quotations omitted).