BLUF: The French authorities have banned a symposium to commemorate historian Dominique Venner and are re-establishing preventive censorship, targeting organizations that oppose mass immigration or defend conservative, patriotic values, under the guise of inciting hatred and discrimination, but commentators have expressed dismay at the unnecessary ban.
The article presents the ban of a symposium organized to commemorate historian Dominique Venner at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, and the re-establishment of preventive censorship by the French authorities. The ban was motivated by the risk of statements inciting hatred and discrimination, which may call into question national cohesion and the principles enshrined in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The article highlights that this type of censorship was previously eliminated in France with the 1881 law on freedom of the press and was only re-established in times of war. However, the decision goes further and targets organizations that have not necessarily been convicted in the past but belong to the “far right” or “ultra-right” in the eyes of French authorities. Commentators have expressed dismay at the unnecessary ban, and the article suggests that the French authorities wanted to ban any discussion about the ongoing population replacement linked to ever-greater mass immigration, both legal and illegal, which a large majority of French citizens see as a cause for worry.