00:00French Municipal Elections Hit With Foreign Interference Allegations
00:07Following his defeat in the Toulouse Municipal Elections, François Piquemal,
00:12the candidate from the left-wing France Embaude Party, has called for the vote to be voided
00:17and has also filed a criminal complaint, citing alleged foreign digital interference.
00:22Earlier in March, Le Monde reported on a broader SMER campaign targeting several France Embaude candidates,
00:29including Piquemal. France's Elections Coordination and Protection Network
00:33identified foreign interference operations linked to the 2026 Municipal Elections.
00:39Meanwhile, the country's foreign digital interference watchdog Viginium said
00:44these activities reflect a new type of coordinated online campaign involving networks with technical signatures linked to foreign actors.
00:53However, the agency added that the reach of the social media campaign appears to have been limited.
00:58Over the weekend of the second round of the election on the 22nd of March, further incidents were identified.
01:05Fake political ads using party slogans appeared on platforms such as the online marketplace Vinted,
01:11video game Candy Crush, sports betting sites and alongside the news outlet La Dépêche du Midi.
01:17According to Piquemal's team, this campaign could have impacted the result of the votes.
01:40It's still yet to be determined if and how the disinformation campaign had any impact on the vote.
01:46At this stage, no official attribution has been made and most posts have been removed.
01:51An investigation is ongoing with no perpetrator identified so far.
01:55Just follow us on Twitter.
01:58The various parties have been made and posted.
01:59Main cleanup of T Bei
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