France warns of Russian digital interference in local elections
French intelligence services are warning of a high risk of information operations targeting the local elections scheduled for March 15 and 22. Coordinated online disinformation campaigns are considered a major threat, aimed at influencing voters and destabilizing public debate.
According to Mediapart, French security institutions point to the risk of interference in local elections through manipulation on social media, the spread of fake news, and organized information operations.
Such activities do not involve direct interference with electoral systems but instead aim to shape public opinion by influencing the flow of information.
In practice, this includes the creation of false narratives, the amplification of social conflicts, and the promotion of content that deepens political polarization. Information operations often exploit the algorithms of social media platforms, which tend to favor the rapid spread of emotional or controversial content.
Fake News Websites and Impersonation of Media Outlets
As noted by CPD, France already has experience with extensive disinformation campaigns targeting the country’s domestic public debate. In 2025, analysts from Insikt Group identified as many as 140 websites impersonating French news outlets.
Around 20 of them mimicked local media organizations, significantly increasing the credibility of the content they published. These fake websites were used to spread manipulated or entirely fabricated information. One example involved a campaign circulating false claims about alleged links between President Emmanuel Macron and the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Such tactics are particularly effective at the local level, where audiences often have limited capacity to verify sources of information and tend to place a high level of trust in local media.
Mediapart reports that some of the detected operations are linked to the Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516. This structure employs a broad range of digital tools, including fake news websites, social media accounts, and content generated with artificial intelligence.
A key component of these operations are so-called troll farms-networks of accounts managed in a coordinated manner. Their purpose is to mass-distribute specific narratives, amplify selected messages, and create the impression of widespread public support for particular opinions. As a result, false information can rapidly gain traction and enter the mainstream information environment.