France’s hard-left party has accused a major news channel of spreading misinformation and damaging its reputation, escalating tensions over media coverage of a high-profile terrorism-related case.
France’s left-wing party La France insoumise (LFI) has filed a formal complaint against broadcaster BFMTV, accusing it of publishing “false information” about party members and European Parliament member Rima Hassan.
The complaint has been submitted to Arcom, France’s regulator for audiovisual and digital communications, which is now reviewing the case.
Paul Vannier, an LFI MP, said in a post on social media platform X that BFMTV had aired content amounting to sustained attacks on Hassan, harming both her personal reputation and that of the party.
Vannier attached the full text of the complaint to his post, arguing that the channel had breached its legal obligations by failing to uphold standards of “pluralism, honesty and independence of information.”
According to the filing, while Hassan was in custody following her arrest on April 2 on suspicion of “terrorism propaganda,” BFMTV allegedly conducted a campaign to discredit her. The complaint claims the broadcaster circulated false reports suggesting that “prohibited substances were found in her bag.”
Hassan was detained in Paris on April 2 and released the following day. Legal proceedings related to the charges against her are due to begin on July 7.
In the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, a number of politicians and activists in France who have voiced support for Palestine have been detained under accusations of promoting terrorism.
Hassan was born in a refugee camp near Aleppo in northern Syria before moving to France with her family. In 2024, she became the first French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament in its history.
