Election campaign of Emmanuel Macron, a candidate in the most favorable conditions in order to win the next presidential election in France, 30% is funded by Saudi Arabia? Not true. But such information was published in late February, fake web news site (LeSoir.info), the design of which repeats the appearance of the legendary LeSoir.be in order to introduce the reader astray and authenticity of the fabricated materials. This is not the only case of misinformation against the Makron. For the past two weeks in social media have been circulating a photo of the alleged statements of support, written in Arabic, in which the leaders of the “al-Qaeda” (the terrorist organization banned in Russia — approx.ed.) announced that prefer the Macron as a future President. Four days ago, in an article on French anti-liberal site reported about the intention of Emmanuel Macron to introduce Sharia in a French region, to legalize polygamy and indecent treatment of women. Of course, we are talking about fake.
But that’s not all. The theme is almost always immigration and social tensions with the Muslim population. Last month circulated information that the French government is engaged in the acquisition of a group of 62 hotels using the loan in the amount of one hundred million euros issued by the European Bank for social development, with the aim to provide housing arrived in France migrants. At the same time in the news there was a rumor that the French state is preparing to replace two Catholic holiday on the Muslim and Jewish — in the name of equality, one for everyone. Also recently there was news that the French government is considering the possibility of granting voting rights to jihadists, arrested and imprisoned in France. At the same time thousands of posts in social networks has earned a map of France, highlighting the clashes between the police and immigrants from North Africa. Only here the map is actually 2005. And everything else is pure lies.
The suppression of these and other fake news is a joint effort by the French media, participating in the project called CrossCheck. The goal is to make finding factual errors the cleaning tool of the discussion from the false information with the potential to influence public opinion. The event was a success, and after exposing the rumors vanished. But in addition to its effectiveness, this project has another advantage: collecting a directory of fabricated reports, he emphasizes their common features.
First, during the presidential campaign in France, these fake materials mainly appear on the hand of marine Le Pen. Either because the direct object of the slander is of Makron: the question of financing his campaign allows, among other things, to distract attention from the financial relations Le Pen with Russia. Either because reinforce its slogans about identity and persecution of the Muslim population, using fake data on favoritism and privileges provided to this population. Secondly, these “fake news” fueled by the emotional intensity of the debate. And in the moment emotions are pushing the integration of the Muslim population in Europe on the first line, which again favors of Le Pen. Thirdly, these materials are not only engaged in a deliberate attempt to mislead the reader (copying the appearance of reliable sources), but apparently originate from the virtual sources that are registered abroad. That is, there are indications that other States want to use this technique to indirectly influence the political debate in pursuit of their own interests — and in this sense it is no secret that Russia divides the political agenda marine Le Pen in full and maintains its promise to leave the EU, and therefore should be interested in promoting her candidacy.
You say that there is no evidence of Russia’s involvement in the false messages that appear during the French presidential campaign. Yes, but, as noted by Anne Applebaum, the matches speak for themselves. Putin and Le Pen — the common enemies and common goals (EU and weakening its position), the Kremlin is financing the campaign of the leader of the National front, and all of the above coincides with the Russian methods of work, the purpose of which was to influence the election campaign in the USA (for the benefit of Donald trump). Europe is sailing without a clearly specified rate. Meanwhile, her enemies are very well know where to direct your ship.
