France accuses Russia of spreading propaganda through manipulating French influencers

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Russia is trying to promote its propaganda on French social media through digital content creators.

“France is being targeted by several types of foreign digital interference,” declared Jean-Noël Barrot during a hearing before the French National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

Russia is attempting to manipulate influencers in European countries – Barrot

Barrot stated that Russia is attempting to manipulate influencers in European countries, including France, using methods that are “diverse and change frequently.”

“The modus operandi deployed is varied and frequently evolving. The recent elections in Moldavia, Romania, for example, illustrated the massive use of influencers on social networks, and Twitter in particular, to disrupt voting”, the French minister added.

According to the French minister, Paris has data on how Moscow tried to manipulate influencers in various European countries.

“About twenty of them, including nine French, allegedly accepted the offer. The investigation is ongoing, and we urge content creators and their followers to be extremely vigilant about these threats to our public debate,” Barrot added.

The French Foreign Minister also called on European states to “speak with one voice and choose the right tools to respond” to these threats.

Kremlin-linked actors contacted thousands of influencers

Le Monde reported on Wednesday that individuals close to the Kremlin had contacted thousands of influencers, including French ones, to spread pro-Russian propaganda.

The newspaper cites a “source within the French intelligence services” who asserts that they have contacted over 2,000 digital content creators in Europe. Le Monde reports that about twenty of them, including nine French ones, have accepted the deal.

According to Le Monde’s source within the French intelligence services, France detected a manipulation operation on social networks in spring 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the aim of frightening European public opinion.

According to the latter, members close to the Kremlin paid around twenty influencers—present on TikTok and Instagram—in several European countries in exchange for the publication of videos using usual language elements of Russian propaganda. It boasted the might of Putin’s army and generated fears that a global war can erupt if Ukraine’s Western allies provide military aid to Kyiv.

“Investigations are underway, and we call on content creators and their subscribers to be extremely vigilant about these threats to our public debate,” said Jean-Noël Barrot.

Influencers’ role in malign influence on presidential elections in Romania

Recently, it was reported that influencers in Romania were spreading content in support of anti-EU, pro-Russian, far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu that help him to achieve a sensational victory in the first round. He benefited from a massive promotion through TikTok, including influencers on the platform, according to the investigation.

Due to widespread violations regarding political advertising during the election campaign (source of funding and labeling as political ads), the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the results of the first round of elections.