France News Quiz: Test Your Ability to Spot Misinformation

Russian Disinformation Campaigns Target France with Fake and Exaggerated News

France has intensified its efforts to combat Russian interference, particularly the spread of disinformation designed to damage the country’s reputation and destabilize its society. French authorities are increasingly vocal about identifying and countering these operations, which range from completely fabricated stories to heavily distorted versions of real events.

In April, the Centre gouvernemental de veille, d’alerte et de réponse aux attaques informatiques (CERT-FR) published a comprehensive report detailing Russia’s “decades of cyberattacks” against France. The report highlighted how Russian-linked entities have engaged in activities from hacking public and private enterprises to orchestrating sophisticated fake news campaigns.

The challenge for media consumers is that these false narratives often spread rapidly, sometimes finding their way into reputable international news outlets before fact-checkers can respond. This creates a significant challenge as tracking disinformation is painstaking work, while news cycles move at lightning speed.

One prominent example occurred when French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Ukraine alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. During an informal meeting on a train, Macron was photographed with a white object on the table in front of him. Russian outlets quickly claimed it was cocaine, forcing the Élysée Palace to issue a clarification that it was simply a tissue. The presidential office took the unusual step of releasing a close-up version of the original image to dispel the rumors.

Disinformation tracking services found that while this particular rumor originated with French far-right social media accounts, it gained significant traction after being amplified by Russian-language accounts and eventually senior Moscow officials. The story’s reach expanded further when American conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones promoted it to their substantial audiences.

Another case involved Paris’s bed bug situation in 2023. What began as legitimate local reporting about isolated bed bug incidents in cinemas and public transportation was rapidly transformed into an international story suggesting the entire city was uninhabitable due to an infestation. The exaggerated narrative spread globally, with even London’s mayor commenting on the situation. Far-right figures falsely linked the supposed infestation to immigrant populations.

French intelligence services later concluded that while the original reports were accurate, the rapid spread and distortion were partly driven by Kremlin-linked accounts. Europe Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated on TF1 television that “the issue of bedbugs was artificially amplified on social networks by accounts that have been established to be of Russian inspiration or origin.”

During the 2024 Paris Olympics, French officials had anticipated Russian disinformation attacks, and their concerns proved justified. One completely fabricated image, widely circulated by Russian media, showed a purported front page of the French newspaper Libération featuring a photo of an athlete vomiting after the triathlon, claiming it resulted from poor Seine River water quality. While the triathlon was indeed postponed by 24 hours due to water quality concerns, the event ultimately proceeded without incident, and the newspaper front page was entirely fake.

Personal attacks have also featured prominently in these campaigns. Brigitte Macron, the French president’s wife, has been targeted since 2017 with false claims that she was born a man named Jean-Michel (who is actually her brother). Though initially pushed by French far-right figures, the lie gained international attention in 2024 when translated into English and subsequently amplified by popular American podcast host Joe Rogan. Brigitte Macron successfully won a court case against two women who had promoted these claims in a YouTube video.

One peculiarly persistent piece of fake news resurfaces during periods of social unrest in France – the claim that rioters have released animals from the Paris zoo, resulting in lions and zebras roaming the capital’s streets. This fabrication, typically accompanied by convincingly doctored images, reappeared during the 2023 riots following the death of a young man named Nahel in a police encounter.

While the 2023 riots represented France’s most serious social unrest since 2005, the legitimate coverage was accompanied by coordinated social media campaigns from British and American far-right figures using the hashtag “France has Fallen” to falsely link immigration to the violence. Court data later showed that 90 percent of those charged in connection with the riots were French citizens.

As these disinformation efforts continue, French authorities remain vigilant in identifying and countering false narratives designed to undermine social cohesion and international relations.