"Follow us on..em..the book of faces?"

I watched a report on the BBC on how broadcasters in France have been refrained from mentioning the words "Facebook" or "Twitter" to their listeners. Broadcasting authorities have deemed the act as a form "hidden advertising" of commercial brands. So according to them, mention of these popular social networks would be to advertise them, which broadcasters shouldn't be doing on their bureaus. 

Many broadcasters in France use "social media" online such as tweets and status updates in parallel with mainstream media (TV news segments, online articles etc.) to get information as well as present information. The French law now says that there will be no mention of these 2 social networks on bulletins because it would be just like an advert for them. However, an opinion was expressed that the nature of this law was verging on anti-Americanism, stating that had a popular social network been run by the French authorities and broadcasting management rather than an American board of broadcasters, they would not have banned the mention of its name on the air or live to stunt its popularity. 

However, the broadcasting manager in France had refuted the notion that they had acted out of opposition to the growing popularity of a social network that is particularly American, supported by others saying that the law has been enforced to simply avoid over-advertisement of these social networks. 

This may impact the popularity of social networks in France, since a lack of mentioning social networks on TV and the radio, or in any form considered "advertisement" other than official advertisement from the social network itself may prevents people from hearing about them. As a result, they may not have much luck with popularity in France. I see the intent of the authorities on banning the mention of social networks, but I honestly don't think it's doing the French society any harm. Social networks are being used to publicize information and news networks are promoted. In doing this the social networks are promoted in turn, so "media piggy backing" ends up happening. Both parties are benefitted from the process, so I don't personally see the disadvantages of mentioning social networks on TV or the radio!

Here's the link to the segment: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9538479.stm 

Nour