The Belgian newspaper that survived a stolen identity and a digital war with Google

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Founded in 1887 as a free advertising sheet, Le Soir evolved into a pillar of Belgian journalism. Yet, its history is marked by a wartime identity theft, a daring resistance parody, and a landmark legal battle that forced Google to scrub its search results entirely to avoid copyright infringement.

Established by Émile Rossel in 1887, Le Soir began as a free advertising publication before transitioning into a paid daily newspaper. Today, it stands as a prominent Francophone voice in Brussels and Wallonia, owned by the Rossel & Cie group. Politically, the paper positions itself as a progressive, social democratic, and federalist outlet, often contrasted with its centrist to centre-right competitor, La Libre Belgique. Since 2005, it has adopted the Berliner format, maintaining a mission to serve as a societal counterweight dedicated to human dignity and freedom of expression.

The paper’s most turbulent chapter occurred during the Second World War. While many Belgian outlets ceased operations or went underground during the German occupation, Le Soir continued to publish under strict censorship. This version, dubbed Le Soir Volé or Stolen Le Soir, became infamous for serializing Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin. In 1943, the resistance group Front de l'Indépendance struck back by creating the Faux Soir, a satirical, pro-Allied edition that was surreptitiously distributed alongside the official paper. Following the Allied liberation of Brussels, the legitimate Free Le Soir resumed production on 6 September 1944 under the leadership of Lucien Fuss.

In the modern era, Le Soir has navigated the complexities of the digital age, most notably through a legal confrontation with Google. The newspaper sued the search engine for copyright infringement, arguing that Google continued to display articles in its news service and search index even after they had been deleted from the paper's own website. A Belgian judge ruled in favor of the newspaper, ordering Google to remove the content. In a dramatic response, Google removed all links to Le Soir from its entire search index. The paper has also remained a target for its editorial stances, facing bomb threats in 2015 after republishing Charlie Hebdo cartoons in the wake of the terrorist attack on the French magazine.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• How a Flemish Catholic newspaper survived war, collaboration, and a total bankruptcy
• Born from 1968 protests, Libération redefined French journalism through radical equality and counter-culture.
• The Catholic newspaper that once fueled antisemitism and later apologized for its role
• From Resistance roots to global news giant: the story of Agence France-Presse
• How a leading Russian news outlet became a battleground for editorial independence
• How a cheap, sensationalist newspaper became the world's largest publication by the 1890s
• How a small export newsletter became the authoritative voice of French economic liberalism
• Is this the definitive voice of the French intellectual left?
• From Market Leader to Financial Turmoil: The Turbulent History of Israel's Maariv Newspaper
• Why France’s most feared newspaper refuses to sell a single advertisement
• How a small-town weekly became one of the world's most circulated daily newspapers.
• How a Barcelona Newspaper Survived Every Spanish Regime Change Since the Nineteenth Century

More in Newspapers · More in Entertainment · Latest · A–Z · All topics