Facebook and Twitter Banned from French TV

In a piece of news that has been making the round and getting quite a lot of people riled up, perhaps for good reason, France has now concluded that TV stations and radios are forbidden from uttering the words "Facebook" or "Twitter" in any other occasions than in news stories pertaining strictly to the two companies.

That may seem absurd at first glance, especially to the much more corporation friendly US, but it does make some sense, since it's based on an actual French law which forbids the use of commercial names on TV and radio, in fear that this may prove to be hidden advertising for the companies involved.

This makes sense if the company in question is Coca Cola or McDonalds, it does not make sense if the company in question is actually a platform and medium for the dissemination of information.

The new regulations specifically prohibit anchors and presenters from saying the names of the two companies, though the existing law already covers this, if chosen to be interpreted to mean than it bans all mentions of any company.

The recent decision does not prohibit TV stations from saying the name of competitors, in fact, the government defends itself saying that it's doing this to help out all those other struggling social networks (which ones?).

"Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition?" CSA (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel) spokeswoman Christine Kelly asked.

"This would be a distortion of competition. If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, it’s opening a Pandora’s Box — other social networks will complain to us saying, 'why not us?," she continued.

You can see where the CSA is coming with this, but Facebook and Twitter are much more than just two companies, they are media platforms. If a TV station directs its viewers to start following its Twitter stream, it does it because it can provide a valuable information source for the users and a powerful marketing avenue for the station and not to advertise Twitter.