Fake news hits French race
Apparent forgeries target Macron; Le Pen’s website hacked
ALBI, France — Fake news and accusations of hacking attempts dominated France’s tense presidential campaign Thursday with just two days left for independent Emmanuel Macron and his far- right rival Marine Le Pen to win over voters before Sunday’s runoff.
Paris prosecutors began a preliminary investigation Thursday into whether fake news is being used to influence the election as the two candidates campaigned in opposite parts of the country.
There has been intense anxiety in France over the possibility that viral misinformation or hackers could influence the presidential vote, as in the U. S. election last year. Those fears had largely failed to materialize.
Then Thursday, Macron filed suit against unknown source “X” after Le Pen suggested during their only oneonone debate Wednesday night that the former banker could have an offshore account.
“I hope we won’t find out you have an offshore account in the Bahamas,” Le Pen said.
She appeared to be referring to two sets of apparent forgeries, published just hours before their heated showdown, that purported to show Macron was somehow involved with a Caribbean bank and a firm based on the island of Nevis.
Macron’s camp said the former investment banker was victim of a “cyber- misinformation campaign.” Speaking on France Inter radio, Macron blamed Le Pen for spreading “fake news” and said he never held a bank account “in any tax haven whatsoever.”
“All this is factually inaccurate,” Macron said.
Also Thursday, Le Pen’s campaign said a hacker confessed to repeatedly targeting its website. The statement, released Thursday, gave few details about the seriousness of the interference, which could range from attempts at defacing the website to flooding it with bogus traffic. The campaign said the arrest took place this week.
Police referred questions to prosecutors, who didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
On the campaign trail, Macron visited disgruntled workers Thursday at a glass factory in Albi near the southern city of Toulouse before holding his last campaign rally in which he called on voters from the left and the right to choose his pro- European platform.
Macron arrived to booing and slogan- shouting from dozens of protesting workers. But after 15 minutes of talking, he managed to calm some of their anger.
Union leader Michel Parraud called Macron “very kind and very polite,” although he said he didn’t think the pro- business centrist would do much for factory workers.
Macron pledged to “give strength back to the country” and “build a more efficient and fair society,” speaking from an open- air stage in Albi’s central square.
Le Pen, who spent Thursday in a small northern French village, quickly backed away from the suggestion that Macron might have an offshore account, but prosecutors soon opened an investigation into suspicions of forgery and the spreading of false news in order to divert votes.
The metadata embedded in the document suggested it was created just before being posted online, undermining the anonymous poster’s claim to have circulated the documents to “hundreds of French journalists” who had “all sat on this.”
There are hints tying the faked documents to far- right circles in California. One document purports to have been drawn up under the laws of Nevis but actually draws some of its language from a guide to forming limited liability companies in California. The documents first appeared on Mixtape, a relatively new northern Californiabased file- sharing service.
The Macron campaign identified the first tweet referring to the documents as coming from the Twitter account of Nathan Damigo, a far- right activist and convicted felon based in northern California. Damigo is known on social media for punching a female anti- fascist in the face at a Berkeley protest.
In an exchange on Twitter, Damigo said he had nothing to do with the apparent forgery, saying he “just stumbled upon it and figured it would be interesting to share.”
He added: “I am glad it is now being talked about.”
In a fiery speech in northern France, Le Pen made an emotional appeal to farmers, the jobless and the disillusioned.
Painting herself as the “voice of the people,” she said her rival would continue the painful status quo.
Thousands of supporters climbed on hay bales and packed onto a field in the northern village of Ennemain to hear her speak, chanting, “We love you Marine” and “Marine President!”
Gaelle Vincent, 35, wore a French flag in her hair to hear Le Pen speak.
“People think little villages like us vote National Front because we don’t like Arabs and are racist,” Vincent said. “We’re not racist. We have to preserve our land and our values.”
Macron, meanwhile, got support from across the ocean.
In a message posted Thursday on Macron’s Twitter account, former U. S. President Barack Obama said he was endorsing the centrist candidate “because of how important this election is.”
“The French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about,” Obama said. “I have admired the campaign that Emmanuel Macron has run. He has stood up for liberal values. He put forward the vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world. And he has committed to a better future for French people.”