Lol,there is no "Liberté d'expression" in France. Even if you say something the most gentle way you'll get sued because you said so. There is only "la liberté d'exprimer son accord avec la pensée unique". But things might change, for better or worst. France is living a very interesting time. Things can blow up anytime.
I'm curious to see some references and figures here. As far as I know, only Hate Speech, and holocaust-denial are forbidden. Libel laws apply too, and some people are trigger-happy with them though.
But accusations of Hate Speech are being broadly abused. For example, a guy I disagree with on almost every issues (economy and immigration) Eric Zemmour was accused and found guilty of hate speech for saying that most people in jail are Arabs in France. This is a fact that was confirmed by many judges and yet the guy was still sentenced cause he hurt some people's sensitivity (I guess...). I'm half Arab myself and still it's obvious to me that most people in jail in France are Arabs (mostly cause they're the poorer), but still, it's true.
Yep, as much as I despise Zemmour, the lawsuits against him are inept. He's the ultimate troll and thrives on contreversy (and whines about "la pensée unique" while being invited pretty much everywhere on TV). Even the laws against holocaust denial are counter productive, since they make the deniers loonies look like martyrs.