The resigning Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, denounced “several attempts at foreign digital interference”.
Russia is trying to manipulate influencers in European countries, including France, denounced the resigning French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot on Wednesday, calling on “content creators and their subscribers to be extremely vigilant regarding these threats that weigh on our public debate”.
“France is targeted by several types of foreign digital interference,” declared Jean-Noël Barrot during a hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.
Call for vigilance
“The operating methods deployed are varied and they evolve frequently. The recent elections in Moldova and Romania, for example, illustrated the massive use of influencers on social networks and in particular on Twitter, to disrupt the vote,” he said. he added.
“And we have elements which confirm that Russia is also trying to manipulate influencers in other European countries, including France,” he continued, while the newspaper Le Monde reported on Wednesday thousands of influencers, including French, approached by people close to the Kremlin to spread pro-Russian propaganda.
This daily quotes “a source within the French intelligence services” who claims that more than 2,000 European content producers were contacted. “Around twenty of them, including nine French people, would have accepted the deal,” writes Le Monde.
“Investigations are underway and we call on content creators, like their subscribers, to be extremely vigilant regarding these threats which weigh on our public debate,” also declared Jean-Noël Barrot.
“And in this area, we must be resolute, keep our cool. We must understand the threat. Put up a united front and choose the tools to respond to it,” he also reacted, specifying that France has strengthened its tools “to detect and characterize digital interference”.
