France accuses Elon Musk of 'online harassment' of Europe leaders

The foreign minister of France, Jean-Noel Barrot, has accused the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk of online harassment targeting European leaders, as he raised concerns about the risks of interference in France's 2027 presidential election. Barrot warned that enemies of democracy would do everything to destabilise the country, exploiting divisions and issues like immigration and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to fuel hatred and tension.

He specifically mentioned a fake French account created by an Israeli company to post about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Barrot also condemned Musk's "massive online harassment campaigns" against European leaders, claiming they sought to influence national debates through viral social media posts. The French leader expressed concern that hostile narratives, believed to originate from Russia, China, Iran, and the MAGA community, had marked coverage of recent high school protests in France.

Musk, with 241.5 million followers on X, commented: "It's an invasion in slow motion, but an invasion nonetheless," to which Barrot vowed France would not tolerate any foreign interference, emphasizing the matter of sovereignty.