In the case of C8 (Canal 8) v. France the Court held that there had been no violation of the freedom of expression.

The applications concerned a pair of decisions by France’s national broadcasting authority to impose sanctions on the television channel C8 for content shown on the programme Touche pas à mon poste.

The Court found – having regard also to the impact of the footage and to the applicant company’s history of regulatory breaches, the procedural safeguards which it had enjoyed in the domestic order and the wide margin of appreciation to be afforded to the respondent State – that the sanctions imposed on the applicant company had not infringed its right to freedom of expression.

Press release