A network of inauthentic Facebook and Instagram accounts impersonated French-speaking users whose posts ranged from soccer and fashion tips for Muslim women to attacks on French President Emmanuel Macron, in a manner similar to the Russian troll operation which targeted the United States from 2014 through 2018, according to traces of their activity left online.

Facebook removed the accounts from its platform for “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” meaning these pages, which posed as organizations and individuals from different parts of the political spectrum or focused on opposite sides of a debate, were centrally operated. Most of the accounts were focused on building their audiences among French users, suggesting that this was an operation in its early stages.

Facebook took these accounts offline on November 5, 2018, after a tip from U.S. law enforcement.

A week later, Facebook updated its announcement, enumerating the accounts taken down: 99 Instagram accounts, 36 Facebook accounts, and six Facebook pages. The majority of the accounts posted in English (analyzed here); however, a dozen Instagram accounts and all six Facebook pages posted in French.

The French-language accounts appeared focused on audience building, but they also posted political content, especially attacking President Emmanuel Macron. This resembles the behavior of earlier Russian troll operations, which used existing social concerns and tensions to promote division and attack specific politicians in various countries, especially the U.S.

The traces these accounts left online provide a snapshot of an operation. As in any open source investigation based on reconstituting closed accounts, questions remain over how large the full operation was, how long it had been operating, what other content the accounts in question posted, and if they were active on other platforms. This article provides an initial description of the traces left by the known accounts.

By using the online traces to approximate the number of these accounts’ followers, we estimate that they reached 135,000 users at a very minimum.

The Accounts

Before the November 13 announcement, Facebook shared the names of 11 French-language Instagram accounts, which the company identified as “inauthentic” with @DFRLab.

Three of the accounts posed as African women: @une_camerounaise_fiere, @femme_combattante, and @moonlight_en_france. One, @football_et_france, posed as a football fan group focused on encouraging the “Ultras” across all clubs. A more political account, @france__rouge, posed as a Trotskyist, while another, @espoir_de_france, posed as a nationalist.

Of the rest, @action_verte focused on environmental issues, @les_femmes_musulmanes on Muslim women and fashion, and @contre_guerre on conflict, especially in Africa. @la_voix_etranger and @france_pour_tous engaged on immigration issues.

In its November 13 update, Facebook provided screenshots from two Facebook pages, named “fée-ministr” and “la France libre.” Those screenshots showed posts promoting feminist messages.

Post by Fee-ministr, based on a famous feminist poster, and shared by Facebook. (Source: Facebook)

Translated from French : “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” The French translates the Portuguese text in the image. (Source: Facebook)

A Google search revealed two more posts by “fée-ministr,” one a feminist quote from author Colette, the other mocking Catholics for their opposition to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) rights for gay couples.