SEE AMAZON.COM DEALS FOR TODAY
Accident – Death – Obituary News : 
France Accuses Russia of Orchestrating Online Campaign to Spread Confusion and Controversy over Paris Graffiti
French Authorities Investigating Potential Antisemitism and External Organization of Graffiti
Paris, France – In a recent development, France has accused Russia of conducting an online destabilization campaign aimed at creating controversy and confusion surrounding spray-painted Stars of David that appeared on the streets of Paris. The graffiti, which were initially suspected to be antisemitic, have prompted French police investigations to determine their nature and origin.
The incident involved approximately 250 blue stars that were swiftly erased from walls in Paris and its suburbs last month. The appearance of these symbols sparked extensive debate and alarm on social media platforms, raising concerns about the safety of France’s Jewish community, which is the largest in Europe.
France’s Interior Ministry revealed that since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the country has witnessed a surge in antisemitic acts, with over 1,150 incidents reported. This number is nearly three times higher than the total number of antisemitic acts against French Jews recorded in 2022.
In an official statement, France’s Foreign Ministry pointed fingers at Russia, accusing the country of orchestrating a digital interference campaign. The ministry claimed that a network of Russian bots, affiliated with the Recent Reliable News (RRN) network, was responsible for generating thousands of controversial posts about the spray-painted Stars of David on the X platform, previously known as Twitter.
The French state digital watchdog, Viginum, detected the Russian activity. Established in 2021 after hackers targeted Emmanuel Macron’s successful presidential campaign in 2017, Viginum’s primary objective is to identify and analyze foreign digital efforts aimed at influencing online public debates in France.
According to Viginum’s findings, a network of 1,095 bots associated with RRN published 2,589 posts on X within a span of two weeks. These posts significantly contributed to the controversy surrounding the stenciled Stars of David. Furthermore, Viginum discovered that the RRN network had prior knowledge of the graffiti, as their bots began posting about the stars on the evening of October 28, a full 48 hours before other photos of the graffiti surfaced on X.
The European Union has previously identified RRN as a digital information manipulation campaign that also disseminated propaganda in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In July, the Council of the EU announced sanctions against Russian individuals and entities involved in the broader hybrid campaign against the EU and its member states.
French authorities are now intensifying their efforts to investigate the potential antisemitic nature of the graffiti and whether they were organized from outside France. The incident has raised concerns about the rising antisemitism in the country and the need for stringent measures to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community.
AP journalists John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, and Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
.
