Brussels – As student protests spread across France, NewsGuard has identified four examples of fake news that use videos taken out of context to exaggerate the scale and violence of the movement. Three of the videos, the organisation explains, have nothing to do with the ongoing protests.
The movement began in late September, with secondary schools in various parts of the country being blockaded to highlight the conditions in state schools, ranging from a shortage of teachers to unsanitary facilities. According to reports, the protests have led to dozens of fires, thousands of arrests and clashes with the police, who in some cases have used batons and tear gas. The French authorities report that, as of 6 October, 215 students and 715 members of the police force had been injured.
The first video, reposted on 3 October by accounts based in Africa posing as US users – including celebrities such as Mel Gibson – shows an assault on the Paris Stock Exchange, purportedly as part of a “global revolution”. The footage actually dates back to the protests against pension reform in April 2023 and was published at the time by freelance journalist Luc Auffret. Euronext spokesperson Flavio Bornancin-Tomasella told NewsGuard: “I can confirm that no protesting students, nor anyone else, are or have been near the Euronext Paris building since the protests began.”
On 5 October, the same accounts shared two further videos, which appear to show firefighters and police officers defying orders and siding with the protesters. These clips also date from March 2023 and were reported at the time by the website Actu.fr and the newspaper Libération. According to NewsGuard, the fact that these profiles had previously focused solely on US content suggests that the aim may be to attract views in order to generate advertising revenue, rather than to promote a political stance. However, events have since taken a different turn.
A third piece of content, circulated amongst users hostile to immigration, shows dozens of black men advancing towards the police at the Gare du Nord, presented as “Africans” taking part in student protests. The scene actually shows a demonstration in December 2017 in memory of Massar D., a 19-year-old Senegalese man who died in November of that year following an arrest at the station. The video was originally broadcast by the Russian state-run media outlet RT. No reputable news outlet has reported on student marches at Gare du Nord.
The latest incident concerns a dog that was set upon a group of high-school students in Lille, according to claims made by far-left activists. However, the National Police have denied this on X: “No, it is not a National Police dog. The dog seen in the video belongs to a private individual. Our dogs are always identifiable.” NewsGuard notes that the animal is not wearing the harness bearing the word “POLICE” typical of French police dogs.
According to the organisation, Russia frequently targets France with fake news because it supports Ukraine, and is now exploiting the tensions to fuel mistrust of the authorities. The Matryoshka campaign, known for churning out fake reports that mimic authoritative news outlets and institutions, has circulated twenty pieces of fake news about the protests in just two days. These included an alleged AFP report claiming the Pope had been forced to cut short a visit to France following an attack by Muslims, a report by Germany’s Deutsche Welle claiming 54 teachers had been killed, and a report by Le Monde alleging that the centrist presidential candidate Gabriel Attal had funded the riots. According to NewsGuard, this content has so far generated little traffic.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
