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Claims of foreign interference have dogged France’s recent municipal elections, allegedly targeting left-wing politicians and prompting investigations by the authorities.
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Results announced on Saturday 28 March showed the incumbent mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, representing the conservative Republicans party, winning 53.17% of the vote, ahead of his left-wing rival from France Unbowed, François Piquemal.
Shortly after the result, Piquemal said on social media he would pursue “legal action to shed light on how foreign interference may have affected the vote.”
His legal team alleges that fake websites and social media accounts spread disinformation designed to discredit the candidate. They say they were alerted to suspected interference by France’s elections coordination and protection network, which includes the foreign digital interference watchdog VIGINUM.
Disinformation campaign targeting left-wing candidates
Earlier in March, French newspaper Le Monde reported on a coordinated smear campaign targeting several candidates from France Unbowed, including Piquemal.
According to the report, fake websites and social media accounts circulated false claims about him, including unfounded allegations of paedophilia posted on Facebook.
Most of the content has since been removed. VIGINUM said the campaign’s overall reach appeared limited based on low engagement figures, but acknowledged that measuring its true impact was difficult.
During the weekend of 22 March, as voters headed to the polls for the second round, further incidents were reported.
Fake campaign advertisements, purporting to support France Unbowed, appeared across a range of online platforms — including online marketplace Vinted, mobile game Candy Crush, sports betting websites, and alongside content from regional newspaper La Dépêche du Midi.
These adverts featured the candidate’s campaign slogan and logos linked to activist groups, but also contained racist messaging.
Speaking to The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team, Piquemal’s campaign manager, Inès Djelida, said the team was made aware of the adverts after people began sending them screenshots. She said they appeared to have circulated online for around four hours.
“We are certain this had an impact on the second round,” she said, noting the content appeared during the legally mandated pre-election silence period, when political campaigning is halted. “In that time, thousands of people could have been exposed to defamatory, racist and Islamophobic posts.”
Investigations underway
France’s elections coordination and protection network says it has identified four separate instances of suspected foreign digital interference linked to France’s 2026 municipal elections.
One technique involves attempts to damage or manipulate political candidates’ public image through coordinated online activity.
VIGINUM said it had identified “a new informational modus operandi” consistent with foreign interference, involving a network of websites and social media accounts displaying technical markers suggesting activity from abroad.
An investigation is now underway to identify those responsible. So far, no perpetrators have been publicly named, and it remains unclear whether the alleged campaign had any measurable effect on the outcome of the vote.
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