A French news channel’s eyebrow-raising edit has reinforced the belief that the media “are in cahoots” with the country's political elite, a Yellow Vest protester, whose anti-Macron placard was airbrushed from a photo, told RT.

Jean-Baptiste Redde said he was shocked when he learned that TV channel France 3 had sanitized an AFP photograph showing him holding a sign that read “Macron out.” The channel, which dropped the “out” part of Redde’s message, blamed the curious Photoshop-job on a “human error.”

That explanation was far from being enough for the activist. "The censorship by France 3 casts a shadow on the media in general," he told RT France.

The protesters start to think that the media are in cahoots with politicians and the financial elite. Such sort of censorship doesn’t help the situation.

Those who claim that the media intentionally “manipulate” people now see themselves as vindicated, Redde said, adding that reaction to troubling edit has been especially fierce on social media.

Also on rt.com ‘Macron… WHAT?’ French TV channel ‘censors’ photo of Yellow Vest protester’s placard (PHOTOS)

Although the channel has characterized the photo altering as an honest mistake that “will not happen again,” Redde remains unconvinced.

I thought this through, and decided to file a complaint to the country’s media watchdog.

The Yellow Vest demonstrations, which began on November 17, were originally against a forthcoming fuel tax – but soon became a catalyst for expressing anger and frustration at President Emmanuel Macron’s administration.

The protests spread across France, with violence erupting in Paris and other cities. More than 4,500 people have been arrested during the month of unrest, while many others have been injured, including police.

READ MORE: ‘We didn’t listen to people’: French PM admits mistakes in dealing with Yellow Vest rallies

The French government has announced it’s abandoning the plan to hike fuel prices and tax – but protests still continued, with people calling for broader reforms and even the resignation of Macron.

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