Conspiracy theories aside, there is a reasonable argument that for a broadcaster to report a story about Facebook or Twitter then advertise stories on the same medium does suggest a potential conflict of interest. The case of the French ban is the latest example of the competing needs of editorial and advertising, a balance that was managed long before the advent of social media.
This is not the French's first foray into the cultural debate over social communication. In 2003, the French government announced a ban on the term 'e-mail' and its replacement with the world 'courriel' to refer to electronic mail in official documents. The Culture Ministry announced a ban on the use of 'e-mail' in all government ministries, documents, publications or websites. The Ministry insisted that Internet users in France use the term "courier electronique" (electronic mail) instead of e-mail.
The ban failed given the word 'courriel' was not actively used by French web-users and that the term 'e-mail' had "sunk in to French values."
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Facebook could be seen the same way. President Nicolas Sarkozy has embraced social media and 436 000 people 'like' his Facebook page. Loic Le Meur, a former adviser to President Sarkozy on internet policy, lambasted the decision to ban Facebook and Twitter references, saying on Twitter: "French regulation forbids TV networks to say Facebook or Twitter? My Country is screwed". Not quite but the story is keeping Facebook and Twitter busy.
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