France investigates alleged Israeli-linked election interference campaign during elections

Prosecutors in France have launched an investigation into allegations that an Israeli company may have interfered in recent local elections through coordinated disinformation campaigns targeting far-left candidates. The probe follows complaints filed by three members of La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), who accused unknown actors of spreading false allegations, manipulating social media activity, and distributing fake campaign materials.

The politicians involved are Sebastien Delogu from Marseille, Francois Piquemal from Toulouse, and David Guiraud from Roubaix. Delogu and Piquemal lost their election races, while Guiraud was elected mayor. “You get in your car, and you see a billboard with your name and a QR code that links to false accusations of rape,” Delogu told reporters last week. Piquemal alleged that his campaign was hit by the creation of pages on social networks spreading the worst rumours, alongside the release of his social media passwords online.

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The three politicians believe they were targeted because they supported the Palestinian cause. The case was opened after Viginum, France’s agency tasked with monitoring online disinformation, reported discovering a system of artificial or automated dissemination to spread manifestly inaccurate or misleading content. “This malicious campaign, involving an actor located abroad, is liable to undermine the fundamental interests of the nation, insofar as it deliberately seeks to distort citizens' access to information,” the agency said.

A source familiar with the investigation told news agency AFP that the alleged operations appeared to originate from Israel. Two left-leaning newspapers, Liberation in France and Haaretz in Israel, reportedly identified companies suspected of involvement. However, AFP said it could not independently verify those claims.

French prosecutors also stressed that, at this stage, there is no evidence linking the alleged activity to the Israeli government. “The notion of interference does not concern the interests of a foreign individual or company, but of a foreign state, and no suspicion of such an intervention... has been reported.”