In the DH, Georges-Louis Bouchez denounces the closure of C8 by the ARCOM, an arbitrary decision that undermines freedom of expression.
Georges-Louis Bouchez: "This is a worrying precedent that would have caused massive outrage had it happened in Hungary or Poland. Rather than sanctioning a programme or specific individuals responsible, an entire channel is being condemned, breaking its economic model and reducing media pluralism."
In Belgium, with €360 million in public funding, RTBF distorts competition with private media such as RTL or independent radio stations, which must fund themselves. This imbalance limits the diversity of information and steers public debate through a single ideological lens. It is urgent to review RTBF's funding and its remit in order to restore a genuine balance between public and private media and thereby guarantee true freedom of expression!
The Belgian cultural sector suffers from the same state interventionism. Often politicised subsidies artificially sustain productions that have no economic viability. Unlike the United States, Flanders or South Korea, Wallonia has no strategic vision for its cultural industry. We must encourage patronage, profitability and export, rather than permanently funding projects with no audience and no profitability whatsoever.
In conclusion, the state must stop imposing its cultural and media vision through public funding. The closure of C8, RTBF's stranglehold and the artificial upkeep of a culture dependent on subsidies are symptoms of the same drift: information and creation under control, to the detriment of diversity and freedom of expression.