OTTAWA – A French- language radio broadcast that included the word f*ck in English did not violate any offensive language codes, as it does not have the same offensive connotation in French, according to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
The CBSC examined broadcasts on French-language pop-rock music radio station CKOI-FM (96.9FM in Montreal) from January and March 2017. On January 23, the station aired an excerpt in English of a speech by singer Madonna at the Women’s March on Washington in which she used the f-word. On March 25, the station broadcast an English clip from a Green Day concert in which the band’s lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, used the f-word. Both broadcasts occurred during the afternoon, and a listener complained about the coarse language.
The CBSC French-Language Panel examined the complaints under Clause 9(c) of the CAB Code of Ethics which prohibits the broadcast of “unduly coarse or offensive language”. Although the CBSC has previously said that the f-word should not be broadcast on radio during daytime or early evening hours, it established in a previous decision that using the word “f*ck” in French does not have the same vulgar connotation as it does in English.
The CBSC therefore concluded that CKOI did not violate the code, noting that if the word is used infrequently and not as an insult towards a particular person, it will be deemed acceptable in the context of French-language programming.
