Jean Luc and Peter Mingils talk about what is happening with the Censoring of Politcal Journalists
Political Censorship in France: A Chilling 2025 RetrospectiveIn 2025, France, long hailed as a bastion of liberty and free expression, grappled with an escalating wave of political censorship that blurred the lines between regulation and repression. Under President Emmanuel Macron’s administration, a series of laws, court rulings, and enforcement actions targeted online platforms, journalists, and dissenting voices, sparking international outcry and domestic unrest. This year marked a pivotal shift, where tools like the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) were weaponized not just for safety, but for stifling political discourse.
The year began with heightened scrutiny on social media giants. In July, French authorities launched a criminal probe into X (formerly Twitter), accusing it of algorithm manipulation and “fraudulent data extraction” to enable foreign interference. X’s Global Affairs team decried this as politically motivated, noting that investigators labeled the platform an “organized gang,” granting powers for wiretaps and surveillance typically reserved for cartels.
Elon Musk’s platform resisted demands for real-time user data and algorithm access, framing it as an assault on free speech. Users in France reported shadow banning and content de-amplification, with one X post highlighting how X France admitted to using “Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Reach” filters to curb algorithmically “problematic” posts.
This wasn’t isolated. Telegram founder Pavel Durov accused French intelligence of pressuring him to censor Moldovan channels ahead of elections, offering leniency in his own legal woes in exchange.
Durov refused, exposing what he called a pattern of EU interference in free expression. Similarly, in June, France’s Administrative Supreme Court upheld a decree implementing the EU’s terrorist content regulation, which critics argued enabled broad internet censorship without sufficient safeguards.
The European Digital Rights (EDRi) group lamented this as burying debates on free speech, potentially undermining the EU’s top court.Offline, censorship extended to media and events. Left-wing MPs proposed amendments to reduce public media coverage of migrant-related crimes, citing “moral panic” fueled by right-wing exploitation—explicitly referencing high-profile murders like those of Lola and Thomas.
This echoed broader trends: Human Rights Watch reported rule of law backsliding, with UN concerns over torture and civic space erosion amid political crises and snap elections.
Far-right protests erupted in response to convictions, while the Iliade Institute faced preventive bans on symposia, reviving echoes of pre-19th-century censorship under Macron.
By December, tensions peaked with EU, French, and German condemnations of U.S. visa bans on Europeans fighting online hate, ironically labeled as “censorship” by Brussels.
Freedom House’s Net report noted France’s strong internet freedom but warned of increasing restrictions via laws on political ads and hate speech.
This surge in censorship fueled class struggles and instability, as analyzed by Spectre Journal.
Critics argue it protects elite narratives on immigration and security at democracy’s expense. As 2026 dawns, France’s actions risk a chilling effect, where self-censorship becomes the norm, eroding the revolutionary ideals of liberté. Will Europe course-correct, or deepen this divide?
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