Former French PM Attal files legal complaint over alleged Russian interference
Following an initial report on Wednesday regarding "external digital interference" and "originating from Russia", the state authorities informed Gabriel Attal on Friday of a new interference operation on Thursday, "once again originating from Russian networks", according to a statement issued by his lawyers, Sacha Ghozlan and Lucas Veil.
The complaint, filed in Paris on Friday evening and seen by French news agency AFP, condemns "acts of foreign interference, manipulation of information and the fabrication of falsified content, which are likely to undermine the nation's fundamental interests and the integrity of the forthcoming presidential election".
Attal's lawyers identified deepfakes, fake video reports and fake newspaper front pages on social media and other platforms.
They have also identified material intended to "sow confusion about the origin of the deepfakes", by singling out Gabriel Attal to make it appear as though he had "himself orchestrated the disinformation targeting him".
Attal was alerted to the posts by France's national defence and security secretariat (SGDSN) and its Viginum unit, which is responsible for monitoring and protecting against foreign digital interference.
Ex-French PM Attal targeted by Russian 'interference' ahead of 2027 vote
The election 'could be rigged'
"Several X accounts – some of which are impersonating French and international media outlets – have circulated fake video reports, fake newspaper front pages and content imitating the logos and graphic designs of media organisations, thereby attributing to him and his associates false and misleading statements, actions and public positions intended to discredit him as a candidate," Attal's lawyers added.
"If we do nothing to protect ourselves, the election could be rigged," Attal warned on Thursday on RTL radio, accusing "Russia of wanting to steal" this election from the French people.
A series of destabilisation operations, attributed to pro-Russian networks, have targeted three declared or prospective presidential candidates in the space of a few days.
Edouard Philippe (Horizons) was the subject of false claims regarding his health; Raphaël Glucksmann (Place Publique) was targeted via his partner, the journalist Léa Salamé, who was accused of bribing the media to favour her husband's candidacy; and Attal was notably portrayed as potentially suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Although these operations remained largely under the radar, according to a security source, they are the first to have directly targeted presidential contenders since the start of the campaign. A judicial investigation has been launched into the alleged disinformation campaign targeting Glucksmann.
'Open bar' for manipulators
On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu responded by pointing out that, at the end of July, the government had presented a draft bill that would impose harsher penalties for the dissemination of false information.
But some on the left believe the government is not going far enough and want to target foreign platforms such as TikTok or X.
On Thursday evening, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, said the French presidential election was becoming an "open bar for all the manipulators of the world".
French mayoral candidates targeted in foreign disinformation campaign
Candidates from LFI in the most recent local elections – this time in Marseille, Toulouse and Roubaix – had been targeted by online interference, with suspicions pointing towards an Israeli company.
The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office told AFP that an investigation to these reports was underway.
The leader of the Green Party (Les Ecologistes), Marine Tondelier, went even further by proposing, in Libération newspaper, that platforms such as X be suspended in France for the duration of the campaign "in the event of interference being detected in advance".