French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot accused billionaire Elon Musk of using his social media platform to organize "mass online harassment campaigns" against European leaders, as he targeted foreign efforts to destabilize the country ahead of next year’s presidential election. UNN reports this, citing The Guardian.
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Speaking at an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conference on Tuesday, Jean-Noël Barrot pointed to the role social media has begun to play in the global struggle for democracy. "Forces seeking to undermine democracy now dominate the information landscape, where they use tactics aimed at polarizing public debate," he said.
As a result, he said, "political movements with authoritarian aims" that "play into the hands of declared enemies of democracy" have begun to gain momentum in Europe and North America.
"They are intensifying the polarization of our societies," he added. "Their ultimate goal is clear: to seize power and then create the conditions to never relinquish it," the French minister said.
Barrot cited France’s 2027 presidential election as an example, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen leading in the polls. "The enemies of democracy are doing everything possible to destabilize us," he said. "They are using our divisions, as well as immigration, secularism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to fuel hatred and tension," Barrot noted.
He cited several other examples, from an unnamed Israeli company accused of creating fake accounts on French social media to influence perceptions of the war between Israel and Gaza, to allegations that Azerbaijan stoked tensions amid deadly unrest in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia.
Barrot also singled out Musk, the world’s richest person and owner of the social media platform X. "Elon Musk has launched mass online harassment campaigns against European leaders in order to influence the debate, using the virality of his social media platform."
Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Barrot also cited as an example the protests that have shaken France in recent weeks, when school pupils, students and trade union activists blockaded schools and marched through cities. According to Barrot, these events were exploited by "hostile narratives" from russia, China and Iran, as well as by those associated with the MAGA movement in the US.
Last week, Musk and US President Donald Trump commented on the protests in France, attempting to recast them through the lens of mass migration and dismissing protesters’ demands for improved learning conditions, the publication writes.
Barrot said his government was working to respond to the reality in which paid or commissioned influencers seek to exploit the viral reach of digital platforms. "The Kremlin’s goal is clearly articulated: to put an end to our liberal democracies in favor of a new authoritarianism. Other actors are converging around this goal, seeking to dictate to Europe which democracies are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad,’ based on whether they serve their own interests," he said.
The French minister’s remarks came days after the UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, said it was "clear" that russia had interfered in the Brexit referendum.
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Barrot said his government would work to counter these efforts by foreign organizations. "We are uncompromising because it is clear to us that they are undermining the fundamental interests of the nation," he said. "We will not tolerate any foreign interference, wherever it comes from. This is a matter of sovereignty."