Overview
- The Paris public prosecutor opened an inquiry on Tuesday, May 26 to determine if several La France insoumise municipal campaigns were targeted by an operation serving the interests of a foreign state.
- The probe covers three candidates named by LFI — Sébastien Delogu (Marseille), François Piquemal (Toulouse) and David Guiraud (Roubaix) — and will fold local procedures from Marseille and Toulouse into the central investigation.
- State detector Viginum flagged a coordinated use of inauthentic tactics such as automated accounts, AI-generated images, fake campaign visuals, QR-linked posters and pages designed to spread false accusations.
- Press reports have named Israeli private firms, notably BlackCore, as possible actors but the prosecutor has not confirmed any state direction and attribution remains unresolved as investigators from the Unité Nationale Cyber gather technical evidence.
- The investigation is being pursued under counts including intelligence with a foreign power, diversion of suffrage by false news and online praise of terrorism, and it could shape France’s efforts to protect future national elections while candidates continue legal challenges.