Paris prosecutors investigate disinformation targeting Raphaël Glucksmann

Paris – August 7, 2026: The Paris public prosecutor’s office is investigating a disinformation campaign targeting Member of the European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann. It is examining whether the dissemination of manipulated imagery was part of a foreign interference operation. According to Franceinfo, proceedings were opened, among other things, over possible offenses related to the production of falsified images intended to serve the interests of a foreign power or an organization controlled by it.

The investigation concerns false information that personally targeted Glucksmann. Investigators want to trace its origin, the production of the content and the channels through which it was disseminated. At this stage, there is only suspicion. It remains unclear whether those responsible can be identified, whether state involvement can be established and which specific criminal offenses may be considered once the investigation is completed.

Glucksmann, a Member of the European Parliament and chairman of the Place publique party, had publicly stated that he had become the target of an operation directed against him. Security sources told the AFP news agency that the campaign was linked to the pro-Russian information network Storm-1516. However, the content reportedly gained only limited visibility on social media. Even posts with limited reach can influence political debates when they are deliberately picked up by high-reach accounts or circulated as purported evidence.

The state monitoring service Viginum has been tracking Storm-1516’s activities since late 2023. In a technical report, the service, which is attached to the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security, described numerous operations targeting Western audiences. The analyses point to actors and organizations with links to the Russian sphere. Viginum classifies their approach as digital foreign interference, while noting that the impact of individual publications is difficult to measure.

Investigators must now reconstruct who produced the content, on which platforms it first appeared and which accounts amplified its dissemination. Clues may emerge from technical data, communication trails, payment channels and patterns of coordinated publication timing. The presumption of innocence and legal rules protecting ongoing investigations apply to all potentially involved parties.

The proceedings come at a time of heightened vigilance ahead of the 2027 French presidential election. Viginum had already documented several digital interference operations ahead of the municipal elections on March 15 and 22, 2026. The Paris investigation is now focusing on the specific case involving Glucksmann and is intended to determine whether the false information that was circulated was in fact part of a coordinated foreign campaign.