Two thirds of fake news about French riots came from abroad, says minister
France’s foreign minister has lambasted foreign interference, saying that two thirds of social media posts falsely linking violence and looting in France to immigration came from abroad, including accounts in the US, Israel and Iran.
Jean-Noël Barrot told France 2 TV that “two-thirds of the content on the looting of October 17th which raises issues of immigration comes from abroad – whilst we know full well that the causes of what happened in our country are entirely different.”
He said that much of the disinformation stems from movements “originating in the United States, and sometimes from Israel, Iran, Russia and China.
“What we have seen in this instance is a proliferation of messages on social media attributing the demonstrations that have taken place in recent weeks in France to mass immigration or radical Islam.”
Images of the violence, arson and looting that shook France on October 17th made headlines around the world, and on social media false information quickly spread.
Some of it was seemingly innocuous – such as a series of images of a protester dressed as the Pink Panther, which turned out to be a mixture of AI generated images, or images taken from protests in other countries and altered to make them appear to be from France.
Neither Cartier-Bresson, Banksy nor Cold War Steve could have come up with such an image. Absolutely perfect composition and lighting (even the road signs are perfect)! 😍 https://t.co/CPbpBDjGaO
— Duncan Stone (@StoneDunk) October 15, 2026
But some of the false information had a darker tone – claiming without evidence that the violence was the result of immigration, and that those involved in the rioting or looting were immigrants, Muslims or both.
Of those who have appeared before the courts so far charged in connection with October 17th, over 90 percent were born in France.
US president Donald Trump said: “What’s happening in France has to do with immigration, not schools, not anything.”
He had previously posted on social media that school blockades by lycée students were caused by “mass uncontrolled immigration”.
Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu said in the aftermath of the October 17th violence that France had been hit by an “invasion of extremist Islam”.
Their comments led to an exasperated Emmanuel Macron slamming “stupid” comments, telling reporters that: “There was foreign manipulation of information which led to unacceptable and even stupid comments by many, including foreign leaders.”
But away from the world leaders, social media accounts were posting a flood of content – on X alone, 2.2 million posts referenced violence in France, according to the monitoring platform Visibrain.
Many of them shared fake images, often created with AI, including a photo of an older couple in their underwear being attacked by clad-clad rioters, an aerial view showing Paris almost totally aflame and a picture of the Palestinian flag flying over the Eiffel Tower.
The violence on October 17th led to more than 2,700 people being arrested after rioters smashed and burned in towns across France, followed by widespread looting.
In Limoges, anti-terror police have taken over the investigation after the historic town hall was burned down.
A second day of protests took place on October 24th under tight security – trouble flared in some towns, but the country avoided the widespread violence seen the previous week. A third round of protests is planned for October 31st.
READ ALSO: Protests in France: What to expect on October 31st
The French government has repeatedly raised the alarm about online disinformation and the threat of foreign interference in next year’s presidential elections.
