RSF - Reporters sans frontières

02/16/2026 | Press release | Archived content

RSF inaugurates a France desk and steps up its work in the country ahead of major elections

The new France desk of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is based in Paris and will strengthen the NGO's work in mainland France and its overseas territories. Although the country's legal and regulatory framework is generally favourable to press freedom, the legal tools designed to combat media concentration, editorial interference, attacks on source confidentiality and other threats to the press, are insufficient, inadequate, and outdated. With major elections approaching - municipal elections in March 2026 and presidential elections in May 2027 - RSF is ramping up its efforts to guarantee the right to reliable news from diverse independent sources across the country.

The creation of the RSF France desk follows the opening of the new RSF Prague bureaulast November. Dedicated to monitoring the French media landscape at a time when threats to the country's press freedom are gradually yet significantly growing, the France desk will delve into issues ranging from disinformation to Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) to the health of local news outlets. It will reinforce the NGO's investigative journalism, litigation, advocacy, and communications work to protect media pluralism and independence in France, which ranks 25th out of 180 countries in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index.

"The impact of Reporters Without Borders in France in recent years calls for its actions to be further strengthened, as the presidential election approaches. It would be hypocritical not to take action in France to counter practices that RSF denounces everywhere else in the world. Having stagnated in the World Press Freedom Index for several years, France now has a rare opportunity to promote an ambitious and innovative model to make the right to reliable information a reality. It is up to the industry, the government and parliamentarians to work together and take up the recommendations that are already on the table to tackle media concentration, the protection of journalists and their sources and regulating broadcasters and digital media outlets. These recommendations provide a solid foundation for collectively building the future of journalism in France - and more. As an expert in the field with international reach, RSF is committed to supporting these actors in this endeavour.

Thibaut Bruttin
RSF Director General

The mission of the RSF France desk is to monitor and document violations of press freedom and the right to information in the country. In coordination with the NGO's other departments, it also supports journalists under threat, combats the propaganda systems polluting the information space, and advocates with national and European authorities for systemic solutions to problems facing journalism and giving ethical, transparent media outlets a competitive advantage in the country.

Laure Chauvel, who joined RSF in 2023 as a policy officer reporting to the NGO's director general, is head of the France desk. She previously worked in the Department for European and International Affairs at the French Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom).

"While France has historically played an important role in the fight for a free and independent press, attacks on press freedom are becoming increasingly frequent, inventive and aggressive in the country. RSF is all too familiar with the strategies used by press freedom predators around the world, and is convinced that urgent action is needed to counter them. France is a decisive front in this regard: RSF intends to act faster, with more impact, where it matters most, and calls on all those who refuse to accept the disastrous decline of the right to information to mobilise by our side.

Laure Chauvel
Head of the RSF France Desk

RSF has played a central role over the past five years in the public debate on contemporary issues in journalism in France, from the NGO's mobilisationin support of the strikers of the French weekly, Journal du Dimanchein June 2023 to the landmark "Reporters Without Borders"ruling by the French Council of State in February 2024, which overturned Arcom's refusal to take action against the 24-hour news channel CNewsfor its breach of broadcast regulations. The "#RSFBus for the Right to Information", which travelled the roads of France in 2022, inspired the creation of the French National Forum on Information,(États généraux de l'information) which concluded in September 2024.

RSF around the world

RSF, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary, is an international NGO that works to defend and promote press freedom and the right to information. Present on every continent, RSF is headquartered in Paris and has 14 offices and sections around the world. Its eight offices are in Brussels, Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Taipei, Dakar, Tunis, London, and Prague; its six sections are in Germany, Austria, Spain, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. RSF also has a network of correspondents and partners in more than 150 countries. This network strengthens its global action and local presence.

Contact. Laure Chauvel: [email protected]

Published on16.02.2026
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