MUMBAI: The French regulators have banned the usage of the words 'Facebook' and 'Twitter' on radio and television programs.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's colleagues have agreed to uphold a 1992 decree, which stipulates that commercial enterprises should not be promoted on news programs, states a report.

The law allows broadcasting anchors to use the brand names, only if a news story is specifically about either of the two companies.

France's regulator of broadcasting Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) spokesperson Christine Kelly believes that the government is correct to uphold this law.

Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition?" She added that it would be "a distortion of competition" to give one social network preference over another.