An alleged Russian influence operation tried to use month’s violent unrest in France to spread false stories on social media. It blamed the disturbances on immigration and painted the French government as weak and unable to keep law and order. The findings were mentioned in an European Union (EU) assessment that Reuters reviewed.
A separate report from the foreign ministry also found social media accounts linked to Israel and the US MAGA movement were pushing what the ministry called “hostile narratives” about the unrest. These accounts tried to tie the violence to Islamism and migration.
European experts who watch disinformation say the two assessments show how foreign groups and political networks can use crises in Western countries to push their own interests and shape public opinion.
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The EU report named an alleged campaign called Operation Overload as a major source of misleading content. That network sent out videos that looked like reports from well‑known Western media outlets.
Some of those videos made claims that migrants had sexually assaulted protesters or that terrorist attacks were about to happen according to the assessment.
In August Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry denied accusations from a French watchdog that Moscow spread disinformation about France’s 2027 elections. She said the claims were not the trick the authorities would use to manipulate public opinion.
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The unrest spread across French cities last month after protests about higher living expenses and worse public services turned violent. The disturbances were among the episodes of violence France has seen in decades.
The EU assessment looked at activity from October 7, to October 21. It found that Russian‑linked networks tried to show leadership as ineffective and increasingly authoritarian.
According to the report, Russia sought to “depict the French leadership as weak and increasingly authoritarian”.
The assessment was prepared by disinformation specialists working with the EU’s diplomatic service and was marked for restricted circulation.
“Such events offer opportunities to undermine national governments, fuel fear and division, and shape public perceptions ahead of elections,” the document stated.
However, the investigators did not find evidence that Russia or any other foreign actor had organised the protests or directly contributed to their escalation.
Instead, the report characterised the online activity as “the opportunistic exploitation of unrest”. This suggests that foreign networks attempted to benefit politically from an existing domestic crisis rather than create the unrest themselves.
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