French opposition, media cry foul over 'fake news' bill
Fabrice RANDOUX, Isabelle CORTES AFP • June 8, 2018
Paris (AFP) - French lawmakers accused the government of
attempting to legalise censorship during a stormy debate Friday over a bill
designed to fight so-called fake news during election campaigns.
President Emmanuel Macron launched a crusade against
misinformation after being targeted during his 2017 campaign by online rumours
that he was gay and had a secret bank account in the Bahamas -- claims he
rubbished as lies spread by Russian media and the French far right.
The draft law allows a political candidate or party to
seek an injunction preventing the publication of "false information"
during the three months preceding a national election.
Defending the bill on French radio, MP Stanislas Guerini
of Macron's centrist party said: "What I don't want is that some day we
have a Trump elected by a Putin in our country."
- 'Thought police' -
The government aims to have it in place in time for next
year's European parliamentary vote.
But it has run into stiff opposition from the media and
in parliament, where parties on the left and right both called it an attack on
freedom of expression and an attempt to create a "thought police"
during a debate into the early hours of Friday.
"The road to hell is paved with good
intentions," said Constance Le Grip, an MP from the centre-right
Republicans party, warning the risk of "claims labelled 'fake news' by a
judge being proven to be true a few days later".
"Journalism and official truths have never been good
bedfellows," Le Figaro newspaper noted in an editorial, arguing that the
best way to help citizens detect fake information was to "promote
education, culture, objectivity, reflection and critical thinking."
European governments are struggling to work out how to
respond to the dissemination of false information and foreign meddling in
elections, following accusations of Kremlin interference in the US presidential
vote and attempts by Russian state media to turn voters against Macron.
The British government has set up a "fake news"
unit, while Italy has an online service to report false articles and the
European Union is working on a "code of practice" that would provide
guidelines for social media companies.
"A sure way of destroying freedom, faced with the
current dangers, is to do nothing," said Culture Minister Francoise
Nyssen, who ran a publishing house before joining the government.
Besides combatting "false information", the
bill also forces Facebook and other social media networks to reveal the names
of companies behind sponsored content and gives the authorities permission to
take foreign broadcasters off the air if they attempt to destabilise France --
a measure seen as aimed at Russian state-backed channel RT.
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