ALDA Sends Complaint Letter Regarding Pascal Praud’s October 9 Video Inciting Religious Hatred

Screenshot of CNEWS 14/11/24

Get the Trolls Out! is dedicated to actively challenging media narratives that perpetuate stereotypes and marginalise communities. Led by the Media Diversity Institute (MDI), and in collaboration with six partner organisations in Europe, GTTO is committed to addressing issues of hate speech and religious discrimination in the media.  

What Happened? The “Tourcoing Incident”

Recently, our project partner, ALDA (European Association for Local Democracy), an organisation advocating for democracy and human rights, sent a complaint letter to CNEWS, a prominent French news channel, regarding a video featuring commentator Pascal Praud. 

On October 9, 2024, Mr. Pascal Praud, known for his provocative and often controversial opinions on political and social issues, commented on the “Tourcoing incident,” where an 18-year-old student assaulted her teacher after being asked to remove her headscarf at Lycée Sévigné in Tourcoing, France. His remarks in the video raised concerns about potential incitement to religious hatred. 

Controversial Remarks

In his editorial, Mr. Praud framed the incident as part of the larger “Islamisation of France,” referring to the “importation” of customs and religions and presenting these as contributing to “community demands.” His comments cast Islam as a foreign threat to French society and portrayed Muslims as opposed to the country’s secular values. By labelling the hijab as a “community demand,” Mr. Praud reinforced harmful stereotypes about Muslim cultural practices and their perceived threat to French identity. 

ALDA’S Complaint

ALDA’s complaint letter highlights that these statements can be interpreted as incitement to religious hatred, further marginalising Muslim communities in France and fuelling division. Such rhetoric exacerbates existing tensions in the country, particularly as the national conversation about secularism and religious freedom continues to unfold. 

As part of the Get The Trolls Out initiative, ALDA is committed to promoting diversity and combating discrimination in all its forms. In the complaint letter, ALDA urges CNews to take responsibility for the content it broadcasts and either remove or edit the video to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes and contributing to the spread of religious intolerance. 

A Call for Responsible Journalism

ALDA calls for responsible journalism, especially during such a sensitive time, and stresses the need to address complex issues like secularism and religious expression with care. We look forward to CNews’ response and thank them for considering the concerns raised in our letter. 

The Response 

Following ALDA’s letter of complaint, CNEWS responded on the 12th of November with a lack of willingness to acknowledge the points of concern raised by ALDA. According to CNEWS, the concerns raised are based on “personal interpretations rather than on a factual observation make with regard to specific legal basis” - therefore they have been totally disregarded by the media channel. CNEWS referred to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically the right to freedom of expression, to justify their aired content. This stance underscores a reluctance to engage in meaningful dialogue. While freedom of expression is a fundamental right, there exists an important distinction between exercising this freedom responsibly and using it to spread hate and discrimination. It is in CNEWS’s right to disagree with GTTO’s perspectives; however, engaging in a constructive conversation could provide us with an opportunity to explain our standpoint in greater detail. Despite their unwillingness, ALDA and GTTO will continue to monitor France’s media landscape, including CNEWS, and remain committed to addressing instances of hate and discrimination, particularly those targeting religious groups. 

For further details, please refer to ALDA’s official open letter 

Date: 6 November 2024

Title: Request to remove or modify Pascal Praud's video of October 9 due to problematic passages inciting religious hatred. 

Dear Mr. Nedjar, 

I am writing to you regarding the video of October 9, 2024 published on the CNews website, in which Mr. Pascal Praud comments on the "Tourcoing incident" involving a student of the Sévigné high school and her teacher. 

This editorial by Mr. Praud contains problematic passages that can be interpreted as incitement to religious hatred. He mentions a supposed "Islamization of France" and the "importation" of customs and religions leading to "community demands", presenting Islam as a foreign threat. He also implicitly opposes Muslims to a "secular" French culture, suggesting their fundamental incompatibility. By describing the wearing of the veil as a "community demand", Mr. Praud makes it a community demand, which feeds the idea of a cultural threat from Islam in France. 

I ask that you take the necessary steps to edit or remove this video to avoid spreading hate speech.  

As a partner in the Get The Trolls Out project, ALDA is committed to respecting diversity and combating all forms of discrimination. As a news channel, it is your responsibility to ensure that the content broadcast does not contribute to these narratives. 

While awaiting your reply, please accept, Mr. Nedjar, the expression of my distinguished greetings. 

ADLA - European Association for Local Democracy