In France, Real Protests Distorted by Fake Videos
Daily Fact Check from NewsGuard AI
Did L’Oréal open its 2026 Paris fashion show with a transgender model wearing a dress that accentuated her male genitalia?
French Student Protests Spark Flurry of Misleading, Mislabeled Videos
By Isis Blachez and Natalie Huet
What’s happening: With student demonstrations sweeping across France, NewsGuard has identified four false claims that rely on misrepresented videos to exaggerate the scale and violence of the protest movement. Three of the claims are based on videos that are completely unrelated to the ongoing protests.
Context: Starting late last month, French students began blockading high schools throughout the country, protesting what they describe as the woeful and worsening state of public schools, ranging from teacher shortages to unsanitary conditions.
The demonstrations have resulted in dozens of fires, thousands of arrests, and violent clashes between students and police, who at times have deployed batons and tear gas, according to news accounts. French authorities said that as of Oct. 6, 215 students and 715 security forces have been injured.
A closer look: The misleading videos appear aimed at amplifying the chaos in France and portraying the French government as weak and ineffective.
Charging the stock exchange? On Oct. 3, Africa-based social media users posing as U.S. users, including celebrities such as Mel Gibson, shared a video showing a crowd storming the Paris stock exchange, Euronext Paris, claiming that student protests are escalating into a “global revolution.”
Actually: The video shows French pension-reform protests in April 2023. The video, which does show protesters storming the Paris stock exchange in April 2023, was originally published on X that month by French freelance journalist Luc Auffret, a NewsGuard reverse image search found.
Euronext spokesman Flavio Bornancin-Tomasella told NewsGuard in an Oct. 6 email, “I can confirm that no student protesters or others are/have been around or in the Euronext Paris building since the start of the protests.”
Breakdown in command? On Oct. 5, the same Africa-based accounts published two videos supposedly showing French firefighters and police officers refusing to take orders and siding with the protesters. One video shows demonstrators applauding firefighters while the other shows police officers with their protective helmets removed, walking peacefully alongside young demonstrators. These African accounts until now focused on U.S.-related content, suggesting they are trying to attract eyeballs to generate advertising revenue rather than operating from a political point of view.
Actually: The videos were filmed during the same pension-reform protests mentioned above.
The video showing firefighters was originally published by French news site Actu.fr in March 2023. The video of police officers with their protective helmets removed was reported on by French daily newspaper Libération, also in March 2023.
African protesters? Anti-immigration social media users shared a video showing dozens of dark-skinned men protesting in the Paris Gare de Nord train station and advancing on police forces to claim that “African men” were participating in the student protests. Users portrayed France as being taken over by immigrants, causing instability and unrest.
Actually: The video shows a December 2017 protest in the Paris Gare de Nord train station in support of “Massar D.,” a 19-year-old Senegalese man who died in Paris in November 2017 after suffering from cardiac arrest during a police arrest at the station.
The video was originally published in December 2017 by Russian state-operated media outlet RT, NewsGuard found, and featured men wearing shirts stating in French, “Justice for Massar.” No credible media outlets reported on student protests in the Gare de Nord station or on large groups of migrants participating in the current unrest.
Police dog? French far-left activists on social media shared a video of a Belgian Shepherd dog running toward a group of students, who rushed in the opposite direction. They claimed that police had unleashed a dog on protesting high schoolers in the northern French city of Lille, resulting in injuries.
Actually: The French national police denied the claim on X, stating: “No, it is not a National Police dog. … The dog seen in this video belongs to a private individual. Our dogs are always identifiable.” Indeed, French police dogs typically wear a harness with the word “POLICE” clearly visible, which the dog in the video is not wearing.
Zooming out: Russia frequently targets France with false claims and mislabeled reports, due to France’s strong support of Ukraine. Russia has taken advantage of the national unrest to try to sow more chaos and more distrust in French authorities.
Its influence campaign Matryoshka, known for churning out a large number of fake news reports imitating credible media brands and institutions, targeted the protests with 20 fabricated news reports published in just two days, NewsGuard found. Among them: that Agence France-Presse reported that the Pope was forced to cut short a visit to France after being attacked by Muslim schoolchildren, that German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that 54 teachers were killed in the protests, and that Le Monde reported that French centrist presidential candidate Gabriel Attal was suspected of financing the riots. However, these fabricated reports appear to have picked up little in the way of traffic online.
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Midterm Watch: Elon Musk Falsely Said to Threaten to Move Tesla Headquarters if Texas ‘Turns Blue’
What’s happening: Liberal social media users are falsely claiming that Elon Musk said that if Texans elected Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, he would move Tesla headquarters from Texas back to California. The quote appears to be fabricated from thin air — and defies everything we know about Musk’s attitude toward the Golden State.
Context: In the most high-profile contest in the state, Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate. Talarico has pledged to raise taxes on billionaires and corporations, according to his campaign website.
In September 2026, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, spent $250,000 supporting Paxton in the race, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
A closer look: In early October 2026, anti-Trump social media users began claiming that Musk had “warned” that if the state flips to Democrats in November, he would move Tesla headquarters to California. In December 2021, Tesla moved its headquarters from California to Texas, a state with no income tax.
The claim originated in an Oct. 4 X post by Singapore-based @MichaelHXHX, who describes himself as “anti-Trump.” The user said in Chinese: “Musk warns Texas voters: If Texas turns blue, Tesla headquarters will move back to California🤣.” The post received 329,000 views and 1,300 likes. The account has previously advanced pro-China false claims, including that Trump said he preferred China as an ally over Canada, Japan, or the U.K.
Actually: Musk made no such announcement, and it’s far-fetched that Musk would want to return to deep blue California, where voters are considering enacting a new tax on billionaires like Musk, who in fact, moved Tesla from California to Texas because he was so critical of California’s business environment.
NewsGuard’s review of Musk’s social media posts on X — which Musk also owns and is the only platform he is active on — found no such comment. There are no credible news reports that Tesla plans to move its headquarters.
On the contrary, September 2026 reports indicate that Musk is expanding his business presence in Texas.
Tesla and another one of Musk’s companies, SpaceX, are slated to invest $16.8 billion in an AI semiconductor plant that will employ at least 3,000 people in Grimes County, Texas, according to an August 2026 press release. Tesla is also expected to begin expanding its facilities in Mustang Ridge, Texas, in December 2026, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Tesla did not respond to NewsGuard’s emailed request for comment.
This newsletter was edited by Sofia Rubinson and Eric Effron.
Reality Check is produced by co-CEOs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, and the NewsGuard team.
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