In In France radio and TV commentators are no longer allowed to say Facebook or Twitter on air, unless those terms happen to be the part of the story. Henceforth, you might not be able to hear French anchors urging viewers or listeners to follow us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. The ban is the result of a decree, forbidding the promotion of commercial enterprises on news programs, issued by the French government on March 27, 1992. Hence under the French law, the usage of Facebook and Twitter amounts to giving preferential treatment to commercial enterprises.
Christine Kelly, a spokesperson for Frances Conseil Superieur de lAudiovisuel (CSA), explained the ban with these words, Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition. This would be a distortion of competition. If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, its opening a Pandoras Box-- other social networks will complain to us saying, why not us? Instead of referring to specific social networking pages, anchors and brand will have to say, find us at social networking sites.
Such bans are not new to France. Back in 2003, the nation had banned the usage of the word email in all government communications and publications. Some analysts have commented that the bans might have something to do with the deep-rooted animosity that French establishment harbours for Anglo-Saxon domination. Facebook and Twitter are American social networks. So they are a symbol of Anglo-Saxon domination just as Apple, MTV, McDonalds, Hollywood, Disneyland, and other cultural juggernauts. But foreigners deride such laws as an instance of French protectionism.
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