France: CSA and HADOPI have merged into ARCOM

On January 1, 2022, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) and the Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur internet (HADOPI) have merged to become the Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique (ARCOM).

ARCOM is the guarantor of freedom of communication and ensures the financing of audiovisual creation and the protection of rights. Its regulation extends to online platforms such as social networks and search engines. Indeed, the French legislator considered that the important transformations of the audiovisual and digital landscape required the creation of a new regulator with reinforced and enlarged competences in order to, on the one hand, promote the influence, diversity and creativity of the French audiovisual and film industries and, on the other hand, protect citizens from certain excesses of the digital world.