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Disinformation in France: A Strategy of Information Warfare in the Digital Age
Bourdas, Annabelle Marie Amelie ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Scotto, Thomas (referee)
Political elections are a fertile ground for disinformation campaigns to prosper as have shown studies on Brexit and the 2016 US elections. The 2022 presidential French elections took place in a particular setting due to the social and political context marked by the rise of far-right parties and movements as well as the succession of crises such as the 2015 terrorist attacks, 2018 yellow vests movement, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. This context and the health crisis in particular have given a new lease of life to far-right movements. Indeed, they spread disinformation, mainly on social media, on the pandemic and fuelled anti-system feelings to advance their agenda. In this context, the far-right political candidate to the 2022 elections, Éric Zemmour, a famous polemicist, thrived and managed to impose himself in the national political landscape. He did so notably by using discursive practices and his media presence. As a result, there has been a banalisation of far-right rhetoric and conspiracy theories in society. This has two major consequences: first, the undermining of democratic and electoral processes and second, the risk of a resurgence of domestic terrorism. Therefore, disinformation is a threat for democracies as they exacerbate social tensions and divisions which can...
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