The situation is getting more complicated for Canal+ in Myanmar. The country's professional association of audiovisual producers has announced that, from Tuesday, August 1, all scripts must be sent to a censorship committee in order to receive authorization before filming. The measure concerns the French audiovisual group since it produces content locally in partnership with the local Forever Group, to feed its own local channels. The noose is tightening around Vivendi's subsidiary, which is already accused of relaying propaganda for the junta that seized power in a coup in February 2021.

News reports showing the arrest of opponents of the regime described as "terrorists," sometimes handcuffed and with swollen faces, are broadcast by the public channel MRTV News, distributed on the Canal+ satellite offer. In April, the network told Le Monde that it was forced to rebroadcast these channels, adding that its sole aim was to "entertain Burmese households, which are particularly in need of it given the difficulties they have been facing for over two years now." At the time, the company refused to condemn the 2021 coup.

Opponents of the junta now accuse Canal+ of complicity with the regime. "Not only does the French group collaborate with businessmen close to the government, but it also disseminates disinformation and hate speech on a daily basis. And now it's submitting all its scripts to the illegitimate junta for approval, in order to feed the propaganda even more," said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar, an NGO of exiled opponents that has called on Canal+ to "take responsibility and respect human rights" and "stop facilitating propaganda."

Canal+'s local partner, Forever Group, is on excellent terms with the junta. According to an investigation by the opposition news website The Irrawaddy, published in December 2022, the production studio released a film to pay tribute to the army and a TV series in honor of the police. Vice-president U Thein Tun Aung is himself a former military intelligence officer.

The presence of Canal+ in Myanmar raises questions about whether its parent company Vivendi is complying with its commitments to protect human rights. "As a world leader in culture, entertainment, media and communications, we exert a real influence on the collective imagination," stated the group controlled by the Bolloré family on its website, which also acknowledges "a singular responsibility, that binds [it] but also encourages [it] to contribute to making the world a better place."

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