Arcom singles out France TV and Radio France for “allegations” about the mayor of New York and October 7

Arcom sent a “formal notice” to France Télévisions and Radio France due to “allegations” made on air by a journalist who had notably accused the mayor of New York of not having condemned October 7, according to a decision published this Friday, April 24.

The contentious remarks were made in the program “Political Questions” broadcast on November 9, 2025 on franceinfo TV and France Inter, during which Alix Bouilhaguet questioned the leader of La France insoumise (LFI), Manuel Bompard, on his party’s support for the newly elected mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani.

The journalist had accused the democratic councilor of having called to “globalize the Intifada”, of “kicking in” the condemnation of October 7 or of raising funds for the UN agency Unrwa which would be “accused of collusion with Hamas”. Manuel Bompard had contested each of these assertions, accusing the journalist of “misinforming” the public.

Seized, Arcom, the audiovisual policeman, concluded that the journalist’s comments were inaccurate, noting in particular that Zohran Mamdani “had expressed himself on several occasions in the sense of condemnation of the crimes perpetrated in Israel by Hamas”.

In its April decision published this Friday, the authority also recalled that Unrwa had been cleared in January 2024 of accusations of “generalized collusion” with Hamas.

Radio France and France Inter implicated

Arcom also criticized the editors — Radio France and France Inter — for having late and insufficiently corrected the journalist’s comments. “If the remarks were contradicted by the guest during the sequence, they were only clarified and corrected by the editor from November 11, 2025, i.e. two days after the broadcast, on the Radio France website (…) and only on November 16, 2025 on the air,” writes the body.

However, according to Arcom, “the allegations in question should have, given the seriousness and sensitivity of the subject, on the one hand been immediately supplemented or even corrected by the editor and, on the other hand, subsequently been the subject of a more marked on-air reaction”.

This sequence therefore characterizes a “breach” of the obligations of “honesty and rigor in the presentation and processing of information”, considers Arcom in its decision.

Arcom’s formal notices constitute the last stage before sanctions, which may in particular be financial.