False posts about migrants during France's unrest: the EU points to a Russian network, Paris also to MAGA and Israeli accounts
According to internal assessments, foreign actors exploited the October riots online, but there is no evidence that they stoked the protests themselves.
A Russian influence network used the unrest in French cities in October to spread false reports, including claims that migrants had raped protesters and that attacks were imminent. That is the finding of an internal assessment by disinformation experts at the EU's diplomatic service, which Reuters was able to review. The network, known as Operation Overload, posed as Western media outlets and sought to portray the French government as weak and authoritarian. The assessment covers the period from 7 to 21 October.
A separate note from the French foreign ministry takes a wider view. Accounts of US MAGA figures and of Israeli officials, media and influencers also linked the riots to migration and radical Islam, the Kyiv Post reports. Between 16 and 18 October, the ten most popular MAGA posts on X drew more than 49 million views combined and the ten most popular Israeli ones more than 35 million. The ten biggest pro-Russian posts reached about 2.8 million.
The assessments do not establish any coordination between those groups, i24NEWS stresses. The EU also found no evidence that Moscow or other countries triggered or worsened the protests over the high cost of living. President Emmanuel Macron had already spoken of foreign manipulation of information, without interference in the unrest itself. Benjamin Netanyahu's office and the Israeli foreign ministry did not respond. Reuters could not independently verify the findings.