France, Dec. 3 -- President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday denied having any plan for a "ministry of truth" in France after right-wing and far-right politicians and media charged that his drive against disinformation risked curtailing freedom of press and expression.

'Ministry of truth'

Macron has in the last weeks intensified warnings on the risks of disinformation, on Friday calling for changes to French legislation that would allow "false information" online to be urgently blocked.

He has also called for "professional certification" of outlets to distinguish sites and networks that provide reliable information according to ethical rules from others that do not.

But at the weekend, the Journal du Dimanche Sunday newspaper, part of the i...