“France will not tolerate any attempt at foreign interference in its democratic debate.” Jean-Noël Barrot, head of French diplomacy, warned on Friday August 7 that the government was working on the issue of foreign interference, which targets in particular candidates for the 2027 presidential election. Eight months before the election, three declared or anticipated contenders for the Elysée were targeted by online disinformation campaigns attributed to Russia: the president of Horizons, Edouard Philippe, that of Renaissance, Gabriel Attal, and the co-president of Place publique, Raphaël Glucksmann. To deal with this, the government presented a bill to the Council of Ministers at the end of July aimed at strengthening the fight against interference.
The text notably plans to toughen the penalty incurred for the dissemination of false information in an electoral context, to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros, compared to one year and 15,000 euros currently. It could go up to six years of detention when the alteration of the vote was carried out “to serve the interests of a foreign power, company or organization”. The Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, also announced at the beginning of August that he wanted to continue, "at the start of the school year", "joint work" with all political parties. Franceinfo reviews the avenues put forward and the proposals of the main parties.
LFI formulates around ten proposals
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party, on June 11, sent 13 proposals to Matignon in order to find solutions to this interference. For good reason: in March, during the municipal elections, candidates from La France insoumise were targeted by a disinformation campaign, such as François Piquemal in Toulouse or David Guiraud in Roubaix. Sébastien Delogu, in Marseille, was notably falsely accused of violence. LFI proposes in particular to create a “High Electoral Authority”, responsible for coordinating the competent administrations in matters of election protection and disclosing foreign interference.
The party also wants to ban political targeting during the electoral period, so that “the dissemination of political messages” can no longer rely “on the profiling of personal data”. For the 2027 presidential election, LFI is also proposing a code of use of artificial intelligence, which would ban the creation of false content intended “to promote or denigrate candidates”. The movement also wishes to strengthen the staff of Viginum, the service responsible for vigilance and protection against foreign digital interference, the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI) and the CNIL. The party wants to include “foreign interference” in the Penal Code in order to punish them. The La France insoumise teams confirm, with franceinfo, that this question will be the subject of the party's summer universities, from August 20 to 23.
Public square focuses on European texts
Target of a disinformation campaign of Russian origin, Raphaël Glucksmann blames certain foreign platforms. The potential candidate in the race for the Elysée also believes that the presidential election "will be marked by massive interference" and accuses Vladimir Putin of wanting to "turn France upside down" to achieve "the implosion of the European bloc". On August 5 on RTL, he called on the French and European authorities not to have “a trembling hand”. Place publique affirms, to franceinfo, that European texts already exist, such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), in order to protect political parties against interference.
These two flagship regulations of the European Union make it possible to regulate the tech giants. According to the head of Place publique, still on RTL, these “large American and Chinese platforms, in particular X and TikTok, must be obliged to respect European rules” and sanctioned if they do not do so. “Then, the government will have to be firm and complete on what it plans in the context of the presidential election,” confirms one of those close to Raphaël Glucksmann, awaiting the discussions with the executive planned for the start of the school year.
Environmentalists want to toughen the regulation of social networks
The boss of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, presidential candidate, questions the role of social networks in this interference, and in particular that of X, owned by Elon Musk. In an interview with Libération on August 5, she believes that "threatening platforms (...) with a ban during the elections seems necessary to [her] and that this sanction must be applied in the event of interference noted upstream." According to her, X's algorithm constitutes "a much stronger interference in democratic life" because of its "much more structural, daily, minute-by-minute impact on disinformation."
In a response sent to franceinfo, the party also defends the strict application of the DSA. He also warns of more diffuse influence operations, intended to accentuate divisions in society, and believes that the regulation of platforms must be accompanied by a strengthening of the press and public broadcasting. The Environmentalists are also proposing a law against media concentration inspired by the Norwegian model, which prohibits a group from holding more than two national press titles, and are asking the government to set a diplomatic "red line" for foreign states likely to carry out interference operations.
The PS wants to improve existing systems
The Socialist Party believes that France already has a complete "legal arsenal" to fight against foreign interference, in the areas of intelligence and judicial repression. “Proposals are, however, being prepared by the party and its parliamentary groups, in response to the Prime Minister’s request,” Floran Vadillo, general director of the party, explains to franceinfo. In particular, they must “not destabilize the existing administrative and judicial system”.
Olivier Faure's party also wants Viginum's resources to be adapted to "the increasing threat" from abroad. The PS therefore considers it necessary to strengthen existing systems specifically for electoral periods, particularly in terms of judicial detection and repression. On the diplomatic level, Floran Vadillo considers that the public attribution of an interference already constitutes a form of response, by making it possible to place the responsible State under the gaze of the international community.
Renaissance wants to alert and protect candidates
Renaissance, whose general secretary Gabriel Attal was targeted by an interference operation by Russia in early August, expects this type of operation to “multiply” during the presidential campaign. Faced with this threat, the party believes that there is a need to alert the public when interference is detected, in order to allow voters to distinguish between verified information and false information. Gabriel Attal's entourage also points out the problem of "anonymity on social networks", which according to him facilitates these operations.
The party also wants to strengthen the technical protection of campaign teams. In particular, he claims to have left Telegram for a secure application developed internally. He also supports the bill presented by the government to better combat this type of interference, "in continuation of the strengthening of Viginum initiated when Gabriel Attal was Prime Minister".
LR in favor of better deterrence
The Republicans do not consider it necessary to strengthen the legislative arsenal. Contacted by franceinfo, the party considers that France already has “effective” legislation and a detection service, Viginum. To fight against foreign interference, LR instead defends a France that is "strong economically, budgetarily, militarily", believing that this constitutes the best way to dissuade other states from acting.
Bruno Retailleau's party also questions Emmanuel Macron's foreign policy, believing that his "diplomatic variations" have "weakened France's voice". The Republicans cite in particular the case of Algeria, which the party accuses of having organized "actions to kidnap opponents" on French soil by taking advantage of the "weakness" of the French response.
On the right, only the Horizons candidate, Edouard Philippe, was targeted by a disinformation campaign. The party, however, did not respond to Franceinfo's requests.
The RN criticizes the government bill
The subject is sensitive for the National Rally, due to the party's past links with Russia, notably through a loan taken out from a Russian bank in the 2010s. In 2023, to respond to accusations of Russian influence, the party initiated a parliamentary commission of inquiry to examine foreign interference. However, the final report highlighted Russian influences, causing tensions within the party. Marine Le Pen denounced a “dishonest and completely politicized” report. But in 2025, the president of the party, Jordan Bardella, however toughened his speech, describing Moscow as a “multidimensional threat” to France.
