EU: Accounts linked to Russia, MAGA and Israel tried to use the unrest in France to discredit the authorities.
These conclusions were reached by European disinformation experts.
According to an analysis by the European Union, the Russian botnet Matryoshka (also known as "Operation Overload"), under the guise of Western media outlets, distributed videos claiming that attacks were being prepared in France and that immigrants were raping protesters. The experts' conclusions show that Russian reports tried to present the French leadership as "increasingly weak and authoritarian".
At the same time, EU experts found no evidence that Moscow or anyone else incited or intensified the protests through their actions.
According to the French Foreign Ministry, from October 16 to October 18 alone, the ten most viewed posts on social network X, made by pro-Russian accounts, received 2.8 million views.
The Reuters news agency notes that these numbers do not compare to the number of views of posts about the riots in X from accounts associated with the MAGA movement, as well as Israeli officials and bloggers. The French foreign ministry said the accounts also spread "hostile information" about the unrest, linking it to radical Islamism and immigration.