Determined to push back against online falsehoods, the French state is turning to facts, humour and a new digital voice to challenge misleading narratives wherever they spread.
France has set up a new digital rapid-response unit – titled “French Response” – to push back against what it sees as a rising tide of online disinformation, and it wasted little time making its presence felt.
When the US secretary of state Marco Rubio took a swipe at European culture on X this week, the English-language account run by the French foreign ministry jumped in almost immediately.
“Our culture,” it replied, posting a neatly laid-out table comparing quality-of-life indicators.
On life expectancy, student debt and several other measures, the European Union came out comfortably ahead of the United States.
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New online battleground
The post was pointed, data-driven and with a hint of dry humour. The recently launched account is France’s latest attempt to defend itself in what officials describe as an increasingly hostile online information environment, where false or misleading claims spread at speed.
French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said information had become “a new battleground”.
“We’re choosing to occupy the space by turning up the volume and raising our voice,” he explained. The strategy appears to be working, at least in terms of reach.
The account has already attracted around 100,000 followers – a modest figure next to X owner Elon Musk’s more than 230 million, but significant for a government-run feed.
Staffed by a small team of diplomats, former journalists and fact-checkers, French Response has been particularly active this week as political and business leaders gathered for the World Economic Forum in Davos.
It has taken aim at posts it considers misleading from Russian and US accounts, and has even found itself rebutting claims linked to the White House under President Donald Trump.
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Between wit and statecraft
That included a moment of high-profile Franco-American sparring.
On Tuesday, French president Emmanuel Macron appeared in Davos wearing aviator sunglasses, which his team later said were the result of a burst blood vessel in his eye.
Macron used the occasion to say France did not like “bullies”, a remark widely interpreted as aimed at Trump.
The next day, newspapers splashed images of Macron in shades across their front pages, with commentators likening him to Maverick from Top Gun.
French Response revelled in the attention. “When the world does your French response for you,” it posted, shortly after Trump mocked Macron’s sunglasses online.
Not all of the account’s interventions have been so light-hearted.
When a Russian account falsely claimed Macron had left Davos early to avoid Trump – in reality, the French leader had never planned to be there on the same day – the reply was swift and cutting: “Another impeccably planned French leave.”
(with newswires)
