Macron accuses foreign leaders of exploiting French riots

Emmanuel Macron accused foreign leaders of exploiting France’s riots because he believed their public comments turned a domestic crisis into campaign material. He said the leaders were in “campaign mode” and were speaking at France’s expense. Macron distinguished foreign interference in the riots themselves from manipulation of information afterward.

He appeared to target Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu described the unrest as an “invasion of extremist Islam,” while Trump blamed mass immigration and urged Macron to close France’s borders. Macron said claims that France had been invaded by migrants and Islamists were completely false.

The dispute matters because misleading claims can shape public reactions beyond France. BBC Verify found more than 15 fake videos, some using branding from genuine French news outlets. Macron said such material influenced foreign leaders and produced unacceptable comments about the unrest.

Macron did not name the foreign leaders directly, but his remarks appeared aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. He referred to leaders campaigning “here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic.” Their political timing made the unrest useful campaign material.

Netanyahu faced parliamentary elections the following week. In an interview, he called the French unrest an “invasion of extremist Islam” and connected it to his warning to Macron after the Hamas attack on Israel. Trump, whose mid-term elections were due the next month, blamed mass immigration for turmoil in France and Italy.

Both leaders presented the unrest as evidence supporting their political messages. Netanyahu emphasized extremist Islam, while Trump emphasized immigration and border control. Macron said these comments were based partly on fake videos and false narratives circulating online.

The riots were large enough to grip Paris and several other French cities. The article names Lyon, Marseille, and Nice among the affected locations. Videos showed running battles between masked rioters and police, along with damaged property and looted stores. The government admitted that police had “lost control” during the violence.

The legal response was substantial. Nearly 150 people had been jailed, while more than 800 had been brought before the courts. These figures show that the unrest produced consequences beyond street disorder. Authorities also promised a firm response to people they described as agitators from ultra-left fringe groups.

The article does not provide a total number of rioters, damaged buildings, or financial losses. It does show that the violence was geographically widespread and followed by rapid legal action. Cleanup began afterward, while police remained present and tensions over blame continued.

The article links the riots to several existing grievances rather than one single cause. The violence erupted on the fringe of cost-of-living protests. It also followed weeks of demonstrations by students who were protesting conditions in high schools. These earlier protests created a tense setting before the disorder spread.

The government later admitted that police had “lost control.” Macron then promised an uncompromising response to what he called “agitators from ultra-left fringe groups.” He blamed those groups for much of the trouble, although the article also describes broader student and cost-of-living protests.

The article does not identify one event that started every riot or explain all participants’ motives. It presents the unrest as developing from existing social protests and then escalating into clashes, property destruction, and looting. That background shaped the political argument over whether the crisis was mainly social, ideological, or connected to immigration.

Foreign information manipulation is the deliberate use of misleading messages, images, or videos to shape public understanding of events in another country. It can exploit real unrest while adding false details or invented explanations. The aim described in the article was to amplify disorder and spread narratives blaming migrants or Islamists.

BBC Verify reviewed more than 15 fake videos linked by researchers to a Russian operation called Matryoshka. The clips used branding resembling real outlets such as Le Monde, Euronews, and France 24. That branding can make fabricated material appear trustworthy. Other accounts reportedly spread violent videos to sow more chaos.

The article says the individual reach of these videos appeared limited, but experts recognized tactics associated with Russian disinformation. Macron said fake AI-generated videos influenced foreign leaders’ comments. The wider risk is that fabricated material can move from social media into political speeches and international debate.

When misleading images and videos spread widely, people may mistake fabricated scenes or false captions for evidence. That can distort how they judge the scale and causes of unrest. In this case, Macron said false material helped create claims that France had been invaded by migrants and Islamists, which he called completely untrue.

The article describes fake videos carrying near-identical branding to Le Monde, Euronews, and France 24. Violent footage, whether genuine but misleadingly presented or entirely fabricated, can make disorder seem more widespread. Accounts linked to disinformation campaigns reportedly amplified such material to sow chaos. The content then reached political discussions beyond France.

The consequences can include public fear, sharper divisions, and inaccurate statements by influential leaders. Macron said foreign leaders made unacceptable comments after being influenced by false videos. Although the reach of the identified videos appeared limited, their focus on unrest matched known disinformation tactics.

A domestic crisis can help an overseas leader because dramatic unrest offers vivid evidence for existing campaign themes. Images of clashes, looting, and damaged property can be presented as proof that a country has lost control. The leader can then connect the crisis to issues such as immigration, Islam, or border security.

That mechanism appeared in the article. Netanyahu described France’s unrest as an “invasion of extremist Islam.” Trump blamed mass immigration and called for closed borders. Both comments fitted political arguments being made while their own elections approached. Macron said the leaders were campaigning at France’s expense.

The danger is that selective or false material can strengthen this process. Fake videos and misleading narratives may be repeated by politicians before their accuracy is checked. Even when individual videos have limited reach, they can influence speeches, international perceptions, and public debate about how governments should respond to unrest.