Did France adopt a new law that allows for any criticism of the mRNA technology to be criminalized? No, that's not true: The bill has nothing to do with mRNA technology, but with a bill aimed at strengthening the fight against "sectarian tendencies." Article 4 of the bill criminalizes the incitement to abandon or to abstain from medical treatment, which is punishable with one year in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros ($32,556). If the incitement has had effects, then the penalties are increased to three years of imprisonment and a 45,000 euro ($48,831) fine. The bill had yet to be approved by the Senate at the time of writing.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on February 21, 2024. It opened (translated from Croatian to English by Lead Stories staff):
France adopted a new law to criminalize criticism of mRNA technology
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Feb 20 08:56:39 2024 UTC)
The video shows a screenshot of a Nulta tačka headline (archived here). Nulta tačka has a lengthy record of publishing false stories in the past, such as that the German government orders children from poor families to engage in prostitution, that people vaccinated against COVID with mRNA vaccines emit a fluorescent glow under UV light (archived here) and that the World Health Organization director says independent media must be "wiped out" before disease X emerges (archived here).
The article in question states (as translated):
Klaus Schwab's World Economic Forum has pulled the trigger to criminalize criticism of mRNA as world governments continue to curtail basic freedoms we once took for granted. Representative of the World Economic Forum, young global leader Emmanuel Macron passed a new law in France that will send you to prison for 3 years if you dare to criticize mRNA 'vaccines' or 'gene therapy'. Under the new law, which was quietly passed in the French parliament last week, criticism of mRNA or other treatments deemed 'appropriate' based on current 'medical knowledge' could lead to three years in prison and up to $48,400 in fines.
Klaus Schwab (archived here), founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has no ability nor jurisdictional powers to make that decision. French President Emmanuel Macron (archived here) is not a WEF representative, as the article claims.
The legislation that would allow for criminalization of incitation to refrain from a medical treatment has nothing to do with mRNA vaccines or technology. Instead, it is a bill devoted to the fight against "sects" or "secretarian tendencies." The bill (archived here) is titled (translated from French to English by Lead Stories staff) "The Bill To Strengthen The Fight Against Sectarian Excesses And Improve The Support Of Victims." The controversial part of this law is Article 4 (as translated):
One year's imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros are punishable by provoking, by means of repeated pressure or maneuvers, any person suffering from a medical condition to abandon or refrain from undergoing therapeutic or prophylactic medical treatment, when this abandonment or this abstention is presented as beneficial for the health of the person concerned when, according to the state of medical knowledge, it is manifestly likely to entail for him, given the pathology of which he is suffering, particularly serious consequences for his physical or mental health. The same penalties are imposed for provoking people to adopt practices presented as having a therapeutic or prophylactic purpose when it is clear, according to the state of medical knowledge, that these practices expose them to an immediate risk of death or injury likely to result in mutilation or permanent infirmity. When the provocation provided for in the first two paragraphs has been followed by effects, the penalties are increased to three years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. Where such offences are committed by means of the written or broadcast press, the special provisions of the laws governing such matters shall apply as regards the determination of the persons responsible.
The Article was a subject of debate, was removed from the bill and then amended and reinstated. It was passed by a small margin (archived here) in the French National Assembly on February 13, 2024. Contrary to the claim made in the post on TikTok, the legislation is yet to be passed by the Senate, which already rejected Article 4 in its original form.
