France 3, the nation's second-largest public TV channel, was accused of violating freedom of speech after it emerged that a recent news broadcast featured a doctored photo of a Yellow Vests' protest.
The image in question, supplied by French news agency AFP, shows a protester with a placard reading, "Macron" with a blank space under the president's name. However, it appeared that the banner on the original AFP photo was saying "Macron Out" — something that gives it a whole new meaning.
The France 3 news anchor that cited the retouched photograph brought her apologies to the viewers for what she called "a human error". "We have identified its origin. It will not happen again", she pledged.
It seems, however, that some were not satisfied with the channel's apology.
"Open the photo on Photoshop by mistake, take the eraser tool by mistake, delete 'out' by mistake, save the modified photo by mistake, project it on the screen by mistake, watch France 3 by mistake… It won't happen again", a user tweeted.
Several angry French viewers said that they had filed a complaint with France's broadcasting authority, the Superior Council of the Audiovisual (CSA).
Thierry Mariani, a French MP and former minister, likened France 3's faux pas to "North Korea's propaganda" and asked who was responsible for the move.