EU report details Russian social media push during French riots

A covert Russian social media network capitalized on the unrest in France last month by circulating fabricated videos that blamed the violence on uncontrolled immigration. An internal European Union assessment, reviewed by Reuters, identified the activity as part of a campaign to portray French leadership as weak and authoritarian during a period of domestic instability.

The EU analysis covered the period from October 7 to 21. It found that a network named Operation Overload distributed clips impersonating Western media outlets to French audiences. Some of these videos falsely asserted that migrants raped protesters or that terrorist attacks were imminent. The document concluded that Moscow sought to shape public perception ahead of upcoming elections, describing the effort as an opportunistic exploitation of the unrest rather than a direct instigation of the protests.

A separate internal report from the French foreign ministry indicated that other external actors also amplified hostile narratives. The ministry found that accounts linked to Israel and the US MAGA movement promoted stories tying the riots to radical Islamism. In terms of digital reach, the top 10 pro-Russian posts on X received 2.8 million views between October 16 and 18. Posts from MAGA-linked accounts far outperformed this figure, with their top 10 items drawing more than 49 million views in the same window. Top posts from Israeli officials and influencers accumulated more than 35 million views.

The riots erupted in October across French cities as demonstrations over living costs and public services turned violent. Elina Treyger, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, noted that such campaigns constitute a slow-burning narrative competition. She argued this strategy gradually influences how Western democracies are perceived, feeding an anti-immigrant backlash that pushes voters toward political extremes.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue described Operation Overload as a persistent operation active since September 2023. The group targets Western institutions to discredit their support for Ukraine. The institute reported that the network uses artificial intelligence to clone expert voices and forges newspaper headlines to impersonate trusted sources. France's disinformation watchdog, Viginum, published a detailed report on the network in 2024.

French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the findings on October 21. He stated that there was no visible foreign interference behind the protests but acknowledged foreign manipulation of information. The Russian foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment. In August, spokesperson Maria Zakharova rejected similar allegations regarding the 2027 elections, calling them a concoction to manipulate public opinion.