Eight months before the French presidential election, Russian interference targeting candidates is intensifying in France, even if it remains largely invisible. The government points out that it recently presented a draft law, but part of the left is also calling for targeted platforms like TikTok and X.

"If we do nothing to protect ourselves, the election could be rigged," worried Gabriel Attal, former Prime Minister of President Emmanuel Macron's majority, on RTL radio on Thursday, directly targeting Russia and accusing "Russia of wanting to steal" this election from the French.

A series of destabilization operations, attributed to pro-Russian networks, targeted three declared or potential presidential candidates in just a few days.

The center-right candidate Edouard Philippe was slandered regarding his health, while the left-wing MEP Raphaël Glucksmann was targeted through his partner, journalist Léa Salamé, who was accused of bribing media outlets to boost her husband's candidacy. As for Gabriel Attal (center-right), he was portrayed as potentially suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Although these operations have remained largely invisible according to a security source, they are the first to directly target presidential candidates since the start of the campaign.

On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reacted by recalling that the government had presented a bill to the Council of Ministers at the end of July.

The text provides for harsher penalties for those who disseminate false information in an electoral context: from one year of imprisonment and a €15,000 fine, they will be increased to three years and a €45,000 fine. And they can reach 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 executive also presented a decree providing for the creation of an "information commission" whose mission will be to inform the public and candidates in the event of interference.

The Prime Minister had met with political parties in June, mentioning "prospects of serious threats to the presidential election".

Challenged by the leader of La France insoumise (radical left) Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who lamented that his movement had since sent proposals to the government without receiving "any news", Sébastien Lecornu indicated that he wished to continue "in the fall" this "joint work" with the political parties.

But part of the left believes that the government is not going far enough and also wants to target foreign platforms like TikTok or X.

- Silence on the right and the far right -

Raphaël Glucksmann is therefore asking French and European authorities not to have "a trembling hand" if it is necessary to sanction these networks.

And to recall the suspicions surrounding the far-right candidate Calin Georgescu during the 2024 presidential election in Romania. Having unexpectedly come out on top in the first round, he was accused by Romanian authorities of having benefited from an illicit support campaign orchestrated by Moscow, notably on TikTok. The election was annulled, and the pro-European Nicusor Dan ultimately won the election a few months later.

"No sanctions have been taken against TikTok," lamented Raphaël Glucksmann.

The leader of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, goes even further, proposing to suspend networks like X in France for the duration of the campaign "in the event of interference observed beforehand".

Since acquiring Twitter, now known as X, in 2022, American billionaire Elon Musk has been increasingly active on his platform in the political sphere. In early July, he notably described Marine Le Pen's candidacy (National Rally, far right) as "France's last hope."

Faced with the destabilization operations of recent days, the right and far right remain silent at this stage.

Politically, the issue is sensitive for the National Rally because of the party's past ties with Russia, notably through a loan taken out from a Russian bank in the 2010s.

In 2025, however, the party president, Jordan Bardella, had hardened his rhetoric, describing Moscow as a "multidimensional threat" to France and specifically mentioning Russian interference.

According to Raphaël Glucksmann, "the 2027 campaign will be marked by massive interference."

Could they have consequences in the voting booth? Their impact remains "difficult to determine," stressed Laurent Cordonier, director of research at the Descartes Foundation, a few months ago during a round table at the Senate dedicated to the risks of digital manipulation as elections approach.