Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and following the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, emotions in France’s political sphere are arguably higher than ever
Analysts have suggested that the upcoming 2022 presidential election has more weight than ever for Europe, given that France holds the European Union presidency until July.
As is common for election campaigning, misinformation and false claims have woven their way into political debates and online conversations.
Thousands of social media users have shared the false claim that Dominion's electronic voting equipment would be used to validate the results of the first round of voting even though France has never used the company in elections.
The Canadian company had been falsely accused by former US President Donald Trump and his supporters of facilitating widespread electoral fraud during the 2020 election.
Dominion Voting Systems have always denied the unfounded allegations and they later claimed over 1 billion in damages for defamation.
False claims about the election being "stolen" have appeared on a variety of social media groups supporting far-right candidates Marine Le Pen, Eric Zemmour, or left-wing hopeful Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Some far-right accounts -- echoing Trump's claims -- had voiced concerns about Dominion being used to manage France's election.
Users on Facebook, Twitter, and Vkontakte have relayed claims made by Russia's foreign ministry that the election would be "totally rigged". The rumours led the word...
A front-page article with the byline of veteran New York Times opinion writer Nicholas Kristof is the latest poisonous example of what I call the NGO “halo effect.” Headlined “The Silence That Mee...