Louis Boyard proposes banning CNews news channel

Louis Boyard, a 25-year-old deputy from the La France Insoumise (LFI) party, has sparked controversy by proposing the banning of the news channel CNews. Speaking at an LFI youth summer university event, Boyard stated, “We will start, week one, with the banning of CNews,” amid criticism of the channel for what he described as conducting a “racist cultural battle.”

The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from observers such as Max Bauer, who characterized the suggestion as a “democratic scandal” and an “authoritarian threat” to freedom of expression and media pluralism. Bauer argued that banning a media outlet serves as a demonstration of force to silence dissenting voices rather than addressing national issues like security or immigration.

While Boyard’s remarks were met with applause from militants, the specific legal framework for such a measure was not detailed. In France, audiovisual services are regulated by Arcom, the regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication.