The (, lit. Superior Audiovisual Council), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the was a measure founded in the Socialist Party's electoral program of 1981, called 110 Propositions for France.
The CSA replaced the (CNCL), which itself replaced the , created in 1982 to supervise the attribution of radio frequencies to the private radio sector, which was judged better than allowing the anarchic creation of the ("free radios"), mainly composed of amateurs and NGOs.
The CSA always acted after content was shown on a TV channel or heard on a radio, so it was not an instance of preventative censorship . Notably, the CSA asked the Government of France to forbid Al-Manar TV in 2005 because of charges of hate speech; it also claimed that MED TV was close to the Kurdish PKK, on grounds not of "evidences" but of "concording elements".
On September 24, 2019, Franck Riester announced that the bill relating to audiovisual communication and cultural sovereignty in the digital age examined by the National Assembly in the first half of 2020 would include the merger of the CSA and HADOPI to form the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (; ARCOM). The bill is put on hold until April 8, 2022 when it is presented to the Council of Ministers under the name "bill relating to the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age". The merger became effective on January 1, 2022.
Last members
(as of December 2021) Roch-Olivier Maistre (president) Carole Bienaimé-Besse Nicolas Curien Hervé Godechot Michèle Léridon Jean-François Mary Nathalie Sonnac
Pictograms
The following pictograms are proposed to the different TV channels. Channels are responsible for displaying the right pictogram depending on the show and its time of broadcast. Note that –18 can be either non-pornographic (like the movie Ken Park) or pornographic.