re: #262 John Hughes

Yes, network television is unusable. (And I’m in France, we have way, way, fewer ads than you do).

“Macrongate”: when American neo-Nazis tried to influence the French Presidential elections.

‘Twas Weev.

There is also additional information about “Macrongate” (in English):

euvsdisinfo.eu

In the case of the Macron Leaks, the environment of the presidential candidate reacted quickly, too. On the one hand, they did confirm that real emails and messages were indeed part of the leak. On the other, they used the lively environment of social media to engage in conversations about it, with a clear narrative about the content of the leak: they were, actually, part of the usual actions taken during an election campaign.

Emmanuel Macron’s campaign staff also used the opportunity to do something out of the box: play with those who were behind the hacks and leaks. They planted some absurd false messages and documents in their own networks, in order to confuse the hackers and burden them with the necessity to explain why they leaked false information.

How was it possible to do the latter? Because the campaign staff actually anticipated that their computers and communications would be hacked. And that, in turn, was possible thanks to their cooperation with digital platforms and state institutions. The latter is of crucial importance here, as strong institutions are fundamental to secure the democratic process in France.

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