Ten years after the attack on the newspaper's editorial office Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, the Jean-Jaurès Foundation carried out with Ifop and in partnership with Charlie Hebdo a major survey on the relationship that the French have with press cartoons, caricatures and laughter in general, as well as on their support for freedom of expression, Charlie Hebdo and his battles, of which here are the main lessons:
A French society increasingly committed to freedom of expression and the right to blasphemy
- In 2012, only a narrow majority of French people (58%) considered freedom of expression and caricature to be a fundamental right, compared to 76% today (+18 points).
- A majority of French people (56%) consider that we can make humor about the death or nationality of people (55%), the sexual behavior of people (51%, + 14 points since 2006) or their ethnic origin (+20 since 2006). However, certain subjects remain sensitive: less than a third of French people consider it a good thing to laugh at the Shoah (28%) and the Armenian or Tutsi genocides (26%).
- In February 2020, half of French people (50%) declared themselves in favor of the law of July 1881 on freedom of the press authorizing the expression of criticism and mockery against religions, compared to 62% today ( +12 points).
- In September 2012, 47% of French people believed that the newspaper Charlie Hebdo should not have published the caricatures of Mohammed because they risked causing new tensions, compared to only 24% today.
Regular practice of reading press cartoons and Charlie Hebdo
- Many French people “consume” press cartoons: 72% have already read them in print or on the internet during their life, including 34% in the last three months.
- 59% of French people say they have read press articles or cartoons from Charliewhether in paper or on the internet.
But a gradual erosion of the capacity to mobilize in the face of attacks
- If they met again today in January 2015, the day after the attack committed against journalists at Charlie Hebdoonly seven in ten French people (71%) would participate in the minute of silence organized in tribute, compared to 80% in August 2020 (-9 points in four years). Less than half (44%) would participate in Republican marches organized under the slogan “Je suis Charlie” (also -9 points).
Faced with Cabu's front page of issue 712, denouncing fundamentalism and Islamic extremism, the reaction of the French is mainly positive
- Called to express themselves freely on the front page, half (50%) of French people cite “positive” elements, compared to only 12% who express negative or contradictory feelings with the intention of the cartoonist.
- By a very large majority, the French have an accurate reading of the front page: 72% indicate that the targets of this cartoon are Muslim fundamentalists, only 11% believe that it is all Muslims who are targeted by this cartoon, while that 10% think it is Muhammad himself who is being targeted.
Read the Jean Jaurès Foundation publication : 2015-2025: a posthumous victory for Charlie (but for how long?) – Fondation Jean-Jaurès
Read the Charlie Hebdo article : The caricatures of “Charlie”: three quarters of French people are for – Charlie Hebdo
