France investigates alleged Russian interference in upcoming presidential election

The Paris prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into possible Russian interference in the upcoming presidential campaign in France. Law enforcement officers are investigating the spread of fake news about potential candidates Gabriel Attal, Edouard Philippe, and Raphael Glucksmann.

This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

Gabriel Attal filed a complaint on August 7 accusing Russian-linked networks of interference. According to his lawyers, deepfakes and fake front pages from French media outlets were being spread on social media, claiming that Attal was a drug user and had Parkinson’s disease.

Similar health fakes were spread about Edouard Philippe. In particular, he was also attributed with Parkinson’s disease.

In the case of Raphael Glucksmann, the disinformation concerned his partner, journalist Leah Salamé. The authors of the fakes accused her of allegedly bribing the media. Glucksmann filed a complaint on August 12.

Viginum, a French state agency that monitors foreign interference on the internet, links this campaign to the Russian networks Storm-1516 and Matryoshka.

The Center for Countering Disinformation noted that they had previously recorded the activity of “Matryoshka.” The network spread fakes about French politicians, disguising them as materials from well-known media outlets.