{"id":94609,"date":"2025-05-12T05:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T05:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/94609\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T05:58:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T05:58:14","slug":"france-calls-out-fake-drug-use-claims-as-foreign-led-disinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/94609\/","title":{"rendered":"France calls out fake drug use claims as foreign-led disinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>ISTANBUL<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The French presidency responded late Sunday to what it called a coordinated disinformation campaign involving a viral video that sparked claims that President Emmanuel Macron hid a cocaine pouch while traveling by train to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs,&#8221; the Elysee said on X, denouncing the allegations.<\/p>\n<p>The post referred to a short clip posted to social media showing Macron along with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the cabin of a train on an overnight journey from Poland to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Netizens speculated that Macron was concealing a bag of white powder with his hand as cameras entered the cabin while claiming that Merz appeared to be holding a cocaine spoon.<\/p>\n<p>French officials clarified that the item Macron was holding was entirely harmless\u2014identified as nothing more than a tissue rolled into a ball\u2014and said the video had been intentionally misrepresented to sow public mistrust.<br \/>French media also pushed back, saying Merz had a simple drink stirrer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This fake news is being spread by France\u2019s enemies, both abroad and at home, &#8221; the Elysee added. &#8220;We must remain vigilant against manipulation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Growing concern over disinformation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The incident comes amid growing concern in France and across Europe about the increasing prevalence of foreign-led disinformation campaigns\u2014particularly from Russian and pro-Kremlin networks\u2014aimed at undermining Western democracies, eroding trust in institutions, and fracturing European unity.<\/p>\n<p>A recent report by the European Union\u2019s External Action Service (EEAS) warned of &#8220;state and non-state actors spreading false narratives to destabilize democratic societies,&#8221; with France repeatedly identified as a primary target.<\/p>\n<p>The French government has also been on high alert following recent cyberattacks and influence operations attributed to hostile foreign actors.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2023, Macron introduced a national strategy to combat information manipulation, calling it &#8220;a battle for our democracy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The initiative included cooperation with tech platforms, support for independent journalism, and legal tools to counter malign influence.<\/p>\n<p>                            &#13;<br \/>\n                                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/p\/subscription\/1001\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-size:12px; color:#444; text-decoration:none;\" rel=\"noopener\">&#13;<br \/>\n                                    Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. <b style=\"color:#1897F7\">Please contact us for subscription options.<\/b>&#13;<br \/>\n                                <\/a>&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ISTANBUL\u00a0 The French presidency responded late Sunday to what it called a coordinated disinformation campaign involving a viral&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[5340,13071,44454,44455,44456,34,2000,299,36,25543,44457,5335],"class_list":{"0":"post-94609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-anadolu-ajansi","9":"tag-disinformation","10":"tag-disinformation-campaign","11":"tag-elysee","12":"tag-elysee-palace","13":"tag-emmanuel-macron","14":"tag-eu","15":"tag-europe","16":"tag-france","17":"tag-french-government","18":"tag-french-presidency","19":"tag-french-president-emmanuel-macron"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114493332104228674","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}