Fighting Information Manipulation : The French Experience

Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer analyzes the impact of the massive data breach that was used in a large-scale disinformation campaign targeting Emmanuel Macron and his campaign team, in the run up to the 2017 French presidential elections. Despite the large data leak, the campaign was deemed a failure, as it did not succeed in significantly influencing French voters. Vilmer explores why this was the case by highlighting a number of mistakes made by the hackers, as well as the appropriate and effective strategies by the National Commission for the Control of the Electoral Campaign for the Presidential Election (CNCCEP) and the National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI). Vilmer cautions that the threat of further leaks may persist, and emphasizes a number of steps and legislation to tackle the threat of disinformation head on.