British tabloid could be fined for criticizing Chirac
<a href="http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,900093,00.html"; target="_blank">This</a>, to me, is absolutely outrageous.
The tabloid's controversial stance breaks a French law that makes it a criminal offence to insult the president.
It's against the law to criticize the French president in France, but if you want to draw up a "Bush is Hitler" sign then go right ahead.
Outrageous.
[ 02-21-2003: Message edited by: groverat ]</p>
The tabloid's controversial stance breaks a French law that makes it a criminal offence to insult the president.
It's against the law to criticize the French president in France, but if you want to draw up a "Bush is Hitler" sign then go right ahead.
Outrageous.
[ 02-21-2003: Message edited by: groverat ]</p>
Comments
It's like that music video thing in Germany that had a Schoder "Spitting Image" style puppet picking people's pockets to some anti-tax song. The german government said they may open an investigation to see of any laws were broken.
[ 02-21-2003: Message edited by: Scott ]</p>
<strong><a href="http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,900093,00.html"; target="_blank">This</a>, to me, is absolutely outrageous.
The tabloid's controversial stance breaks a French law that makes it a criminal offence to insult the president.
It's against the law to criticize the French president in France, but if you want to draw up a "Bush is Hitler" sign then go right ahead.
Outrageous.</strong><hr></blockquote>
we have a very strong private policy law in France. If a newspaper insult you, you have the right to sue him, whatever your job, age, sex, nationality you are.
If someone is comparing Bush to Hitler, the US governement has perfectly the right to sue the newspaper. He has never do this, and just ignore the little pricks, but he has perfectly the right to do it.
It's all so clear.
<strong>No wonder the French criticize everyone else so much, if they criticize their own government they get arrested!
It's all so clear.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I've seen nothing in the French press like the New York Post front page with weasels' heads transplanted onto the necks of the French and German UN delegates.
What's your excuse?
<strong>No wonder the French criticize everyone else so much, if they criticize their own government they get arrested!
It's all so clear.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If it was the case , France will be a giant prison
The New York Post is a rag.
<strong>
If it was the case , France will be a giant prison
Canard Enchainé is pretty serious, yes. And funny. Groverat, there's a long tradition of handsomely vicious satire in France, in novels, on telly, and in the press, and it seems to be alive and well as far as I can see. When it comes to government-bashing the French press does a fine job.
As far as I can tell, criticism of Bush in the American press practically makes you a member of the Ba'aath party right now, so you might want to steer clear of the topic of press freedom in the European branch of the Axis of Evil.
The Sun is, like the New York Post, a Murdoch-owned propaganda machine and I find it very difficult indeed to get exercised about the prospect of anyone suing it, quite frankly.
[ 02-21-2003: Message edited by: Hassan i Sabbah ]</p>
<strong>As far as I can tell, criticism of Bush in the American press practically makes you a member of the Ba'aath party right now, so you might want to steer clear of the topic of press freedom in the European branch of the Axis of Evil.</strong><hr></blockquote>
How much American media do you take in? Good God making fun of the president has been a national pasttime since we kicked the smelly British out of the joint!
You're just making crap up, at least I have an actual law in France that makes it illegal to criticize the president to play off of.
<strong>
we have a very strong private policy law in France. If a newspaper insult you, you have the right to sue him, whatever your job, age, sex, nationality you are.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I wonder if this is anything like the British law, where defamation of character, rather than wrongful defamation of character, is the standard for slander and libel?
That one little word is the difference between a law that protects privacy and a law that suppresses dissent.
<strong>
I wonder if this is anything like the British law, where defamation of character, rather than wrongful defamation of character, is the standard for slander and libel?
That one little word is the difference between a law that protects privacy and a law that suppresses dissent.</strong><hr></blockquote>
you are right the important word is wormfull , euh sorry i mean wrongfull
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
Defamation of character is the Iraq's law.
<strong>
How much American media do you take in? Good God making fun of the president has been a national pasttime since we kicked the smelly British out of the joint!
You're just making crap up, at least I have an actual law in France that makes it illegal to criticize the president to play off of.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Firstly, I've looked at your link and for the life of me I can't find the bit where it says that the French government is actually going to apply this law. And maybe Powerdoc could help us here: have you ever heard, Mr Doc, of the government actually applying this law?
If you have, it would mean that Groverat's not being a hysterical Francophobe with his HOW DARE YOU BE SO FRENCH? post, all outraged as he is. (I'd hate to think he was being a hysterical Francophobe.)
Secondly, everything I read about the American press tells me it's pretty durn toothless right now and the grand old tradition of questioning the government of which you're so rightly proud seems to have been thoroughly 9/11'd.
Is what I read right?
<strong>And the fundamental reason why European journalism will always play second-fiddle to American journalism.</strong><hr></blockquote>
As for this.
This deserves a thread of its own.
Groverat, you NEVER used to get into this stupid Eurobashing nonsense. It's like you've had your Scott_H gland stimulated. (Maybe that's what Scott's PhD is in, I don't know. The discoverer of the mythical 's-spot'.)
What happened, G?
But you know come on. Europe is a funny little place that points the finger at everyone else and then acts like its shit don't stink.
<strong>
Firstly, I've looked at your link and for the life of me I can't find the bit where it says that the French government is actually going to apply this law. And maybe Powerdoc could help us here: have you ever heard, Mr Doc, of the government actually applying this law?
</strong><hr></blockquote>
I have to search.
<strong>The Sun is a pile of shit anyway,</strong><hr></blockquote>
What is this supposed to mean? Because "we" don't like The Sun it's okay to fine it for political speech? I think the LA Times is a pile of shit (that needs to hire a fact checker for the op ed page among others) but I don't want it fined for anything.