Having an opinion is an "incitement to public disorder."
Feb 3, 2008 - A French judge has ordered that a web site that rated teachers could no longer rate teachers by their names. "The country's educational establishment denounced it as "public lynching".
Note2be.com allowed students to rate their teachers in six areas including, how interesting, clear, fair, available, respectful and motivated they were. It also featured a ranking system to reward France's top 10 teachers.
Teachers unions with the backing of the education ministry took the site to court, saying the personal comments were a breach of privacy and an "incitement to public disorder.Education Minister Xavier Darcos voiced approval of the court verdict saying he," totally supported teachers whose difficult mission will not be the object of anonymous attacks on the Internet." Teachers, smarting after a suggestion by President Nicolas Sarkozy that they might face performance reviews to which students could contribute, were incensed.
Teacher rating sites outside of French legal jurisdiction are likely to be set up.
