cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12372204
A covert Russian network sought to exploit last month’s riots in France by using social media to blame the unrest on uncontrolled immigration and portray authorities as having lost control of the situation, according to an internal European Union (EU) assessment seen by Reuters.
A separate internal assessment by the French Foreign Ministry … found that social media accounts linked to Israel and the US MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement were also spreading “hostile narratives” about the riots, linking them to radical Islamism and migration.
Taken together, these assessments provide insight into how external actors have attempted to exploit internal unrest in France to further their own political goals, according to an analysis by European disinformation experts.
An EU analysis found that a covert Russian network known as “Operation Overload” was spreading videos falsely posing as Western media content, targeting French audiences. Some of them falsely claimed that migrants were raping protesters or that terrorist attacks were imminent.
…
The EU analysis, covering the period from October 7 to 21, found that Russia sought to “portray the French leadership as weak and increasingly authoritarian.”
“Such events provide an opportunity to undermine national governments, incite fear and division, and shape public perceptions ahead of elections,” said the EU document with limited distribution, prepared by disinformation experts in the Union’s diplomatic service.
The analysis found no evidence that Moscow or other actors incited the protests or contributed to their escalation, but described their activities as “opportunistic exploitation of the unrest.”
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An estimate by the French Foreign Ministry showed that the ten most viewed posts on the X network about the unrest, originating from “pro-Russian circles”, generated 2,8 million views from October 16 to 18.
However, those numbers were significantly lower than the number of views of posts about the riots spread by accounts associated with the MAGA movement, as well as Israeli officials and influencers.
The ten most viewed posts about the unrest in France, posted on X by officials, media outlets and influencers linked to the MAGA movement, generated more than 49 million views from October 16 to 18, according to a report by the French ministry.
The ten most viewed posts by Israeli officials, government accounts, media outlets and influencers generated more than 35 million views in the same period, according to the French report.
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The EU report states that “Operation Overload”, active since September 2023, is directed against Western “public figures, institutions and media”, with the aim of “discrediting these actors and their support for Ukraine, while promoting content aligned with Russian interests”.
The network’s activities “also aimed to undermine European support for Ukraine by claiming that European governments were prioritizing Ukraine over domestic problems,” the report said.
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The French counter-disinformation agency Viginum published a detailed report in 2024 on “Operation Overload” and similar Russian operations, and French officials have stated that they are reactivated during protests, elections, or other occasions that can serve to discredit France.
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Right wing disinformation is exhausting.
… wait. That doesn’t make the slightest about of sense.
The French are really good at protesting authoritarianism (for good reason).
The way this reads, and please tell me if I’m wrong, is that authoritarian governments are spreading propaganda that the French government is authoritarian, losing control of the riots, pushing racism, and pushing against supporting Ukraine.
Where as the protests are specifically because of a lack of social investment, education investment and public infrastructure investment. Economic conidtions and teacher shortages.
Call me silly, but it looks like to me that the French goverment is acting authoritarian, and using authoritarian regimes as a possible scapegoat, using relatively popular support of Ukraine and rascism as the hooks into the French government’s propaganda.
Then… the conclusion I come to is that this article itself is propaganda.
Yeah, there’s some weird signal crossing in these quotes.
This is the propaganda that’s just a straight lie:
A covert Russian network sought to exploit last month’s riots in France by using social media to blame the unrest on uncontrolled immigration and portray authorities as having lost control of the situation, according to an internal European Union (EU) assessment seen by Reuters.
A separate internal assessment by the French Foreign Ministry … found that social media accounts linked to Israel and the US MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement were also spreading “hostile narratives” about the riots, linking them to radical Islamism and migration.
An EU analysis found that a covert Russian network known as “Operation Overload” was spreading videos falsely posing as Western media content, targeting French audiences. Some of them falsely claimed that migrants were raping protesters or that terrorist attacks were imminent.
This assessment here is factual (French leadership is weak and increasingly authoritarian, this is the conclusion that the French people are drawing), but it is presented as part of the propaganda:
The EU analysis, covering the period from October 7 to 21, found that Russia sought to “portray the French leadership as weak and increasingly authoritarian.”
However, this part here may make sense of that, if this is a different propaganda stream that is aimed at making other allies view the weakening position of the French government as tied to the support for Ukraine:
The EU report states that “Operation Overload”, active since September 2023, is directed against Western “public figures, institutions and media”, with the aim of “discrediting these actors and their support for Ukraine, while promoting content aligned with Russian interests”.
The network’s activities “also aimed to undermine European support for Ukraine by claiming that European governments were prioritizing Ukraine over domestic problems,” the report said.
So it is exploiting 2 different threads of propaganda, one stoking fear on what the riots include and the need to quell them with violence and curb immigration, and the other on the position of the French government for risky partner in war as a consequence of their real actions.
You’re not supposed to see both propaganda axes, only one of them is aimed at you, and this EU report is putting to light the fact that both threads come from the same sources.
look at the account that posted this.
full on hooverism.
I read many foreign newspapers, and the first thing you notice is that they report disproportionately about these protests. This already reveals a skewed view of French (or European) politics and society… and is a strong propaganda indicator. And the content… sometimes I wonder where these journalists get their information from.
i think it might be the waving of palestinian and algerian and moroccan flags made the islamist conclusion ridiculously easy to come to when it was about education???
A covert Russian network sought to exploit last month’s riots in France by using social media to blame the unrest on uncontrolled immigration
Are you telling me the French needed help to be racist?
The only thing that is racist here is your comment.
ml is leaking again. Do not interact.
The French is not a race, and the French have a very long and recent history of racism.
