The C8 presenter wrongly accused the audiovisual police of having set up a tool to report breaches of the law via Twitter.
Down with Arcom. On the occasion of his return, the host Cyril Hanouna intends to settle his scores with the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), which decided at the end of July that the C8 channel would disappear from DTT from March 2025. Posing as a victim of harassment (or persecution) on the part of the audiovisual policeman, whom he wishes to sue, the host explained on C8 that Arcom had developed a tool in collaboration with the social network X (formerly Twitter) allowing people to denounce (in particular) his show.
“Why are we being sanctioned too? Now, you should know that Arcom has set up something: you go directly to Twitter and you make a report. That, already, is nonsense! Excuse me! That means that anyone can make reports all day long. I’m sure there are… A robot can make reports all day long on TPMP. We know very well that this is nonsense, and Arcom bases itself on that. Arcom also sometimes bases itself on press articles. Release wrote that it was not good, we will sanction you.”
What is Cyril Hanouna referring to when he mentions these reports to Arcom that can be accessed directly from Twitter? Nothing. Such a tool does not exist. By clicking on the reporting tabs from X, there is no selection to report content to Arcom. The reports collected are sent to the social network, which chooses (or not) to moderate the targeted content.
The only ways to report audiovisual content to the regulatory authority are to fill out an official online form, where the citizen must provide their contact details to be alerted of the follow-up to their alert. Or, as some elected officials sometimes do, to send a letter by post, which is less practical to fill out than an online report. When Arcom receives an alert, the sequence is examined by its teams, who will translate it into legal terms. If a breach of obligations is noted, then Arcom intervenes with the channel and sends it a graduated sanction.
A hypothesis to explain the untruth
As the regulatory body notes on its website, “the referrals, whatever their number, do not determine either the action of Arcom or the instruction of [la] complaint. It is the substance of the problem posed which only justifies an examination by Arcom.” Contrary to what Cyril Hanouna claims, the large number of reports, even if they were automated by a robot as he seems to claim, does not determine the sanction taken by the authority.
Some Internet users have speculated about Hanouna’s untruth. They suggest that Hanouna mistook the very recent “Vigie Médias” account, which ensures that the media comply with the law, for an official tool of the audiovisual police. More specifically, the misunderstanding could be based on a tweet from July 24, in which the Vigie Média account states: “As soon as a speech goes beyond the framework of the law in the media, systematically report it to Arcom! Note the date, time, channel and name of the program. Describe the problem in a few words and validate!” A post accompanied by a tutorial to indicate the procedure to follow. However, this is in no way an initiative of the audiovisual policeman.
Ironically, the collective specifically suggested to its community to report Cyril Hanouna’s intervention. Vigie Médias therefore recommends that Internet users select the theme “Conditions of processing and transparency of information” and specify “Lack of honesty and rigor of information. Cyril Hanouna is misinforming the public by explaining that Arcom has set up reports via Twitter.”
Contacted by CheckNewsC8 was unable to tell us which tool Cyril Hanouna was referring to.
