For Arcom, the exchange between Cyril Hanouna, the star presenter of C8, and Louis Boyard, the LFI deputy from Val-de-Marne, is “likely to justify the initiation of a sanctioning procedure”. The audiovisual policeman announced this Thursday morning that he had forwarded the file to an independent rapporteur of the Council of State in charge of investigating the procedure and determining whether or not it should give rise to certain sanctions.
On November 10, Louis Boyard was invited to the set of don’t touch my post during a debate on the reception of the Ocean Viking ship. In particular, the deputy took the floor to denounce the activities of Vincent Bolloré, head of the Canal + group, to which the C8 channel belongs, which earned him a legal process. A heated exchange ensued. Cyril Hanouna had notably described the rebellious deputy from La France as “imbecile”, “jester”. “You’re a piece of shit,” he added as well.
The deputy had also attacked the presenter of the program, accusing him of fomenting racism in France, while Cyril Hanouna repeatedly forced him to “close his [ta] mouth.” “You are irresponsible Cyril, you are hurting France, you are raising racism and we don’t even have the right to criticize Bolloré on your channel,” Louis Boyard retorted.
Already sanctions in the past
The sequence was denounced to Arcom in particular by Mathilde Panot, president of the La France insoumise group in the National Assembly, denouncing “the violent vocabulary” used by Cyril Hanouna and attacking the lack of respect, according to her, for the fundamental rights of freedom of expression. and opinion.
Arcom’s decision to seize an independent regulatory body from the Council of State is based on “formal notices already issued in the past regarding C8,” the authority said in a press release.
This will examine, in the first place, if it is appropriate to instruct a disciplinary procedure. If so, in the framework of an adversarial procedure, it will examine the sequence and establish recommendations for Arcom. The members of the authority will then be free to follow these recommendations or not.
The channel risks a formal warning, a fine or even the suspension of the commercial sequences. The most serious sanction being the prohibition of the emission authorization, that is, the pure and simple cessation of the emission.
By the law of September 30, 1986, Arcom (ex-CSA) has in particular the obligation to ensure respect for the “honesty, independence and pluralism of information and of the programs that contribute to it”. While the sequences of don’t touch my post Arcom is regularly informed, the C8 channel was the subject of a warning in 2016 after Cyril Hanouna insulted one of its columnists. In 2007, the chain was fined 3 million euros for broadcasting a sequence considered homophobic.
At the same time, justice will also investigate this case. Two complaints were filed. One from Louis Boyard for “public insults towards a person in public authority” and the other from Cyril Hanouna for “defamation”.
Source: BFM TV
