French officials are investigating claims of foreign election meddling that targeted hard-left political candidates during municipal elections in March, the country’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced Wednesday.
The investigation centers on allegations that an Israeli company called BlackCore orchestrated a disinformation campaign against at least three mayoral candidates from the France Unbowed (LFI) party. According to Reuters reporting from last week, the operation involved creating misleading websites and fake social media profiles that made false accusations of criminal conduct, along with negative digital advertisements.
When questioned by LFI lawmaker Francois Piquemal, one of those allegedly targeted, Nunez confirmed the ongoing investigation and called the campaign “extremely grave.”
The Interior Minister also committed to publicly releasing a complete report from electoral security officials about the suspected operation. This pledge came after the satirical publication Le Canard Enchaine reported that there were attempts to suppress the report’s release.
Reuters was unable to confirm the identity of BlackCore’s operators, determine its actual location, or locate any records of the company in Israeli business databases.
The company did not respond to multiple contact attempts through its website and LinkedIn profile, both of which have since been removed from the internet.
