France detects Russia-linked Epstein smear attempt against Macron, says government source
Recent reports show how multiple false and misleading narratives produced by Russian disinformation organizations spread across social media platforms and regions, sometimes continuing to circulate even after being challenged or debunked. French President Emmanuel Macron recently became the target of Russia’s Storm-1516, which falsely claimed ties to the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Le Monde and Agence France Presse
French authorities said they had detected a disinformation operation, linked to the Russian Storm-1516 network, that aimed to suggest that President Emmanuel Macron was implicated in the scandal surrounding sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a government source told Agence France-Presse on Friday.
Viginum, the French government agency tasked with countering foreign interference operations online, detected the operation on Wednesday. The campaign was based on "the creation of a website impersonating France-Soir," a controversial news website, on which "an article accusing the president of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, of being implicated in the Epstein affair" was published, the source said, confirming a report by the news channel BFM-TV. The disinformation was then "amplified on X," the source added.
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