Europe 1 with AFP 3:34 p.m., December 01, 2022
The FranceSoir site has lost its status as an online press service, which notably gave it the possibility of benefiting from public aid and tax advantages, the Joint Commission for Publications and Press Agencies (CPPAP) said on Wednesday.
The media was accused of relaying conspiracy theories.
End clap for FranceSoir.
The Joint Commission for Publications and Press Agencies announces that the digital medium has just lost its status as an online press service, which notably gave it the possibility of benefiting from public aid and tax advantages.
Meeting Wednesday morning in plenary committee, the CPPAP "decided not to renew the recognition of online press service to FranceSoir. The decision will be notified soon to the publisher", she declared to AFP, confirming information from the specialist letter Mind Media.
According to the institution composed of representatives of the State and press publishers, "FranceSoir no longer met all the criteria" set by decree to obtain this qualification.
Contacted by AFP on Wednesday evening, the management of the site was not available to react immediately.
The online media, which has retained the name of a prestigious defunct daily, has been accused for several years of relaying conspiracy theses, in particular concerning the Covid-19 epidemic.
Loss of tax exemption on donations and reduced VAT rate
But it had managed to maintain its status as a political and general information site during the last CPPAP review in April 2021. "Proof was provided of the presence of two permanent journalists and four freelancers", underlined the Ministry of Culture.
At the time, "the administration was cautious", fearing not to have sufficiently solid arguments to put forward in the event of an appeal by the site, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.
The basis of this new decision was not immediately known.
The withdrawal of this status leads in particular to the loss of tax exemption on donations, a reduced VAT rate, and complicates the process of obtaining a press card.
In September 2021, Google cut FranceSoir's access to its advertising network, thus depriving it of part of its income, after the broadcast of a report on France 2 entitled "Fake News, the money machine".
A few months earlier, Google had already delisted FranceSoir from its Google News service and suspended its YouTube channel.
In early September 2022, the Paris Commercial Court dismissed Shopper Union, the publisher of the FranceSoir site, of its appeal against Google.