French Presidential elections: France to punish early poll leaks on websites

France plans new measures to clamp down on media and social networks that publish exit polls and partial results of Sunday's presidential election ahead of their official release, and will not hesitate to sue lawbreakers, the country's poll watchdog said.

French law forbids pollsters from releasing vote estimates on election day and the day before, but the emergence of technology such has Twitter has made it more difficult to control potential leaks of voting trends.

The Poll Commission, which regulates pollsters, is due to outline on Friday new steps to prevent leaks on sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as traditional media after the Liberation newspaper hinted it might break the embargo.


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