Macron accuses foreign leaders of exploiting French riots for electoral gain

French president points to AI-generated disinformation and says unnamed leaders are campaigning at France's expense

By LineZotpaper

Published21 October 2026

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Sources2 outlets

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused foreign leaders of exploiting the riots that erupted across France on Saturday for electoral purposes, saying they have been influenced by fake AI-generated videos about the violence. Without naming names, Macron referred to leaders 'in campaign mode, whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic', an apparent swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, both facing upcoming elections.

Speaking in Doha, Macron said there was no visible foreign interference in the riots themselves but 'foreign manipulation of information afterwards, yes'. He dismissed claims that France had been 'invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists' as 'completely false'.

Nearly 150 people have been jailed and more than 800 brought before courts since the unrest, which began as cost-of-living protests and escalated into running battles between masked rioters and police in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Nice. The government admitted it 'lost control' during the violence. Macron has vowed to be 'uncompromising' towards what he called 'agitators from ultra-left fringe groups'.

Netanyahu, in an interview with Israel's i24 channel, described the unrest as an 'invasion of extremist Islam', recalling a warning he said he gave Macron after the October 2023 Hamas attack. Trump posted on social media that the riots were about 'people coming into the countries that hate the country', telling Macron to 'close your borders and take control before it is too late'.

According to the Financial Times, EU regulators are examining possible foreign online interference and disinformation campaigns around the French riots. Unnamed security officials suggested pro-Russian and far-right social media accounts, as well as actors linked to Iran and Algeria, have spread violent videos. Researchers at Sciences Po identified 'pro-Kremlin influencers' linked to the Russian campaign Storm-1516.

BBC Verify reviewed more than 15 fake news videos on social media that researchers say are the work of a Russian disinformation operation called Matryoshka, featuring near-identical branding to real French news outlets. One widely shared AI-generated image supposedly showing an elderly couple robbed and left in their underwear in Paris was traced to the director of Infos-Israel.News, who told the BBC she created it using ChatGPT. The claim behind the image remains unconfirmed.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The French government is facing a legitimacy crisis after admitting it lost control of the streets, and foreign leaders are using the unrest to score domestic political points, straining diplomatic relationships.
AI-generated disinformation is amplifying real violence, blurring the line between fact and fabrication at a moment when public trust in institutions is fragile.
EU regulators are now probing foreign interference, which could lead to stricter content moderation rules or sanctions against disinformation networks.

Background

France has experienced periodic bouts of civil unrest over the past decade, from the gilets jaunes protests to pension reform demonstrations. The current riots began as student protests over high school conditions and swelled into broader cost-of-living anger. Saturday's violence was the worst in years, with landmarks damaged and stores looted. Macron's government has blamed the far-left fringe, while critics point to rising inequality and a strained social fabric. The involvement of foreign leaders and disinformation campaigns adds a geopolitical layer to a domestic crisis.

Key Perspectives

President Emmanuel Macron: Argues that foreign leaders are exploiting French suffering for electoral advantage, aided by fake AI-generated content. He insists the violence is not driven by migration or religion but by ultra-left agitators. Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel): Portrays the riots as evidence of an 'invasion of extremist Islam', linking the unrest to his own warnings about terrorism. By framing it this way, he reinforces his domestic security platform ahead of Israeli elections. Donald Trump (US): Blames mass immigration and urges France to close its borders, a message that resonates with his base as US midterms approach. He dismisses the school-related trigger as irrelevant. Disinformation researchers: Identify Russian, Iranian and Algerian-linked accounts amplifying violent videos and spreading false narratives. They see this as part of a broader pattern of sowing chaos in countries that oppose Moscow.

What to Watch

Whether EU regulators formally announce an investigation into foreign disinformation networks and whether specific sanctions follow.
The outcome of Israel's parliamentary elections next week and whether Netanyahu's comments on French riots affect that race.
Further release of AI-generated content around the unrest, and efforts by French authorities to debunk or block it.

Sources

Macron accuses foreign leaders of exploiting French riots · BBC News
Macron accuses Trump and other foreign leaders of ‘stupid comments’ about France unrest · World news | The Guardian

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 8 supported.

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SupportedMacron accused foreign leaders of exploiting the French riots for electoral gain.BBC News: “French President Emmanuel Macron has accused foreign leaders of exploiting the riots which erupted across the country on Saturday for electoral purposes.”
SupportedMacron said unnamed leaders were campaigning at France’s expense and had been influenced by fake AI-generated videos about the riots.BBC News: “Without naming them, he said they were campaigning for forthcoming elections "at France's expense" with their comments on the violence, which erupted on the fringe of cost-of-living protests. ... Macron said the unnamed leaders had been influenced by fake videos generated by AI about the riots.”
SupportedMacron referred to leaders as “in campaign mode, whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic”.BBC News: “Speaking on a visit to the Middle East, he referred to them as "leaders who are in campaign mode, whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic".”
Partly supportedThe unrest began as cost-of-living protests and escalated into riots.BBC News: “Without naming them, he said they were campaigning for forthcoming elections "at France's expense" with their comments on the violence, which erupted on the fringe of cost-of-living protests.”
SupportedNearly 150 people have been jailed and more than 800 brought before courts since the riots.BBC News: “Nearly 150 people have been jailed and more than 800 brought before the courts since the riots which gripped Paris and other cities including Lyon, Marseille and Nice.”
SupportedMacron said there was no visible foreign interference in the riots themselves, but there was foreign manipulation of information afterwards.BBC News: “For me, there is no visible foreign interference in the events that took place. On the other hand, there was foreign manipulation of information afterwards, yes”
SupportedNetanyahu described France’s unrest as an “invasion of extremist Islam”.BBC News: “On Tuesday, Netanyahu said in an interview for Israel's i24 channel, external, that France, which has Western Europe's largest Muslim minority, had been hit by an "invasion of extremist Islam".”
Not in the sourcesTrump posted on social media that the riots were about people coming into countries that hate the country.BBC News: “Also on Tuesday, Trump blamed the riots on mass immigration to France. "When I look at France, when you look at Italy, when you look at all the turmoil and the hatred, that's not about school," he said. "That's about people coming into the countries that hate the country."”
Partly supportedUnnamed security officials suggested that pro-Russian and far-right accounts, and actors linked to Iran and Algeria, had spread violent videos.BBC News: “It quotes unnamed security officials as saying that pro-Russian and far-right social media accounts linked to previous disinformation campaigns have spread violent videos in an attempt to sow more chaos. Iran and Algeria are also suspected of being behind some of the messaging, the paper adds.”
SupportedBBC Verify reviewed more than 15 fake-news videos that researchers said were the work of the Russian disinformation operation Matryoshka, which used branding near-identical to real French outlets.BBC News: “BBC Verify has reviewed more than 15 examples of fake news videos on social media which researchers at the US-based dTeam say are the work of a Russian disinformation operation known as Matryoshka. The videos feature near-identical branding to real news outlets in France”
Partly supportedThe AI-generated image of an elderly couple was traced to the director of Infos-Israel.News, who told the BBC she created it using ChatGPT.BBC News: “The director of Infos-Israel.News, Sabrina Hania, told the BBC her team had created the image - which was published on 17 October - using ChatGPT without using a reference image.”
SupportedThe claim behind the AI-generated image remains unconfirmed.BBC News: “The claim remains unconfirmed, with French media reporting that prosecutors have no information supporting it having happened.”