French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot alleges that Russia has engaged thousands of European social media personalities to disseminate pro-Kremlin narratives.
France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, has accused Russia of manipulating French and other European social media influencers to interfere in European elections. Addressing the French parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Barrot presented evidence supporting this claim, noting France faces multiple forms of foreign digital interference.
He described the methods employed as diverse and frequently evolving, as reported by AFP.
Citing the recent Moldovan and Romanian elections, he highlighted the extensive use of influencers, especially on X (formerly Twitter), to disrupt the voting process.
Barrot’s statement follows a report in Le Monde, which, citing intelligence sources, claimed that Moscow contracted over 2,000 European content creators.
The report further alleges that Kremlin associates paid approximately 20 influencers active on TikTok and Instagram across several European nations to post pro-Russian propaganda videos.
This alleged manipulation campaign, launched in spring 2022 following the escalation in Ukraine, aimed to “frighten European public opinion,” according to Le Monde.
Barrot announced ongoing investigations and urged content creators and their audiences to maintain heightened awareness of these threats. He emphasized the need for a unified response and appropriate countermeasures.
France, along with other European nations, has repeatedly accused Russia of disinformation campaigns targeting EU elections—accusations that Russia firmly denies.
In April, Barrot stated that France was facing a barrage of Russian disinformation potentially influencing EU parliamentary election results.
Some analysts believe that these accusations against Moscow have fostered unity within the EU in addressing divisive issues.
The Kremlin consistently rejects unsubstantiated Western claims of election interference, characterizing them as a pattern of assigning blame to Russia regardless of evidence.
Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed accusations of Russian interference in Romania’s presidential election as entirely unfounded, asserting that Moscow does not meddle in other countries’ elections.