May 21, 2025, marks the first anniversary of the Law on the Security and Regulation of the Digital Space. Arcom has been given a new mission: to verify the implementation of sanctions decided by the European Union in the audiovisual sector. The current European sanctions are primarily those against Russian channels, companies, and propagandists. Two rulings by the European Court of Justice have confirmed the legal basis for these sanctions, justified by the threats to European security posed by attempts to legitimize Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Since the promulgation of the law a year ago, Arcom has taken only one decision, on March 19, in application of its new prerogatives (formal notice to Eutelsat to stop broadcasting the Kanal 5 and STS channels).

Our associations and the Diderot Committee have, however, been providing Arcom with numerous factual elements regarding non-compliance with sanctions for over two years . Eutelsat has recently made efforts to comply, but the same cannot be said for internet service providers, search engines, and social networks.

• The websites and streaming feeds of the sanctioned channels are easily accessible without a VPN. Arcom's lax approach is such that French politicians sympathetic to the Kremlin receive significant airtime on these channels.

• The moderation services of major social networks refuse to remove videos from sanctioned channels.

• A single account on TikTok offers some 500 videos from the RT channel in French, completely illegally.

• Five channels from the sanctioned groups VGTRK and National Media Group are still being transmitted via the Eutelsat 36D satellite.

We have also reported to Arcom that Russian regional and entertainment channels are broadcasting recruitment advertisements for the Russian Armed Forces. These channels are transmitted via the French satellite Eutelsat 36D and distributed by the Trikolor platform not only in Russia but also in the occupied territories of Ukraine. They therefore fall under Arcom's jurisdiction (State Council decision of December 9, 2022). The Russian Armed Forces have been under sanctions since December 15, 2022. Broadcasting content from a sanctioned entity constitutes a circumvention of sanctions.

On March 12, 2025, the French National Assembly, in its Resolution on support for the defense of Ukraine, called on Arcom to immediately use its new powers. The European Commission and the operators themselves, when we alert them, refer the matter to Arcom to enforce the sanctions.

At our initiative, an opinion piece has just been published in Le Monde, signed by prominent political and academic figures, calling on operators and Arcom to respect and enforce the sanctions. Arcom's management has repeatedly assured us that it is reviewing the cases, but has never provided a date for their submission to the board of advisors for a decision.

Because disinformation pollutes the public space and war propaganda kills every day, we solemnly request the Presidency and the Arcom Directorate to have the college of advisors examine without further delay the files relating to sanctions against Russian media and entities, including in particular the Armed Forces.