France Sets Back Social CRM Growth With Facebook, Twitter Ban

Yesterday, the French government – citing a 1992 law – banned mentions of the words "Facebook" and "Twitter" during television and radio news broadcasts. No more "Follow us on Twitter." No more "Tell us what you think on Facebook."

The 1992 law that French authorities are enforcing dictates that use of the names commercial enterprises during the news – unless essential to the news story itself – constitute unfair free advertising. Superficially, the decision might appear a power play on behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was rebuffed by well-known internet tycoons at last week’s Group of Eight E-G8 Summit, arranged by Sarcozy, the current G8 head. Watch your steps, was the strong message world leaders got from Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg and Google Chariman Eric Schmidt at the two-day meeting. Both strongly rebuked the notion of government regulation of the internet and all involved left the meeting without any distinctive policy decisions.

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While France isn’t directly regulating the internet, it is attempting effort to dull its presence or steer users in a more Franco-centric direction. Media outlets build their brand, engage consumers and disseminate details and content through Facebook and Twitter. France authorities hide behind a fair competition argument, but are just reeling in the reigns on inevitable progression.

"Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition?" asked Christine Kelly, spokesperson for France’s Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA). "This would be a distortion of competition. If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, it’s opening a Pandora’s Box – other social networks will complain to us saying, ‘Why not us?’"

France has fiercely protected its own "brand" for generations, though, pushing back particularly against the American homogenization that began in the 1960s. The country refused to adopt the American color-TV standard in the name of French "grandeur nationale." The French government once put quotas on the number of American movie releases in France and later took a run at banning Coca-Cola.

In the 80s, French citizens received free Minitel’s, a device resembling a miniature PC that communicated typed messages and information using phone lines – an internet precursor. French university students even once used Minitel to organize a nation-wide protest, which sounds familiar to today’s social media users. Media outlets were free to encourage consumers to get more information about their brand using a Minitel back then, but that promoted France’s brand as well.

Today, Skyrock is the largest French-based social network, long ago usurped by Facebook as France’s preferred social media; Facebook boasts three-times more members than Skyrock. The new law might open the door for Skyrock to help media outlets engage consumers, since the vague (and still allowed) statement "Find us on social networking sites" might encourage media organizations to leverage more social media outlets. With companies struggling to define best practices for customer engagement via social media channels, though, France is only slowing the progression of major corporations’ social customer relationship management strategies (SCRM). Media organizations have led the way in engaging customers via social media channels, creating benchmarks for companies in other industries. As SCRM strategies become more vital for sustainable business models and increased profitability and customer loyalty, discouraging the formation of these strategies is imprudent.

As a country, France is far from the first country to try and guide social media use. As a major international player, however, it is a prominent attempt to alter French citizens’ social media use and companies’ attempt to encourage dialogue with consumers through a SCRM strategy sets a poor precedent.