France's President Emmanuel Macron, center, visits a farm in Vallerois-le-Bois, eastern France, February 3, 2026. SEBASTIEN BOZON / AP
France has detected a Russia-linked disinformation effort alleging President Emmanuel Macron's involvement with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a government source told Agence France-Presse on Friday, February 6. France's Viginum agency, which counters foreign disinformation campaigns, detected on Wednesday the operation involving a fabricated article "accusing President Emmanuel Macron of being involved in the 'Epstein affair'," the source added.
The fabricated article was posted on a site fraudulently using the identity of a French media organization, France-Soir, said the source, adding that the Storm-1516 project spreading fabricated content was behind the operation. According to the source, "Viginum attributes this site with a high degree of confidence to the CopyCop information operation."
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