Will a huge gasoline shortage paralyze France from July 15? This is what several videos published on TikTok in recent days wrongly claim. To deceive Internet users, the accounts behind this false information are trying to pass themselves off as credible media. The narrative, visual similarities, and publication dates suggest a coordinated action with the aim of getting clicks, but also creating panic.
” Nearly 40% of gas stations closed “, ” an increase of 80 % of fuel prices “, if we are to believe these TikTok publications, an unprecedented shortage will hit France. These videos, with a deliberately alarmist tone, follow the same manufacturing process: an eye-catching visual with illustrative images, accompanied by an artificial voice and dramatic music.
These videos are currently numbering in the dozens on social networks. They all share, with a few words, the same narrative: ” Alert France! A huge fuel shortage is coming and the consequences are expected to be particularly serious. First point, prices will increase Due to the imminent scarcity, fuel prices are expected to increase considerably. Reliable sources such as BFM Business predict an increase of at least 80% in prices. (…) Nearly 40% of gas stations in France will have to close temporarily. In response, the government is considering introducing an intermittent opening law to better manage the crisis. Concretely, gas stations will only open on certain days of the week, these days being defined in advance to avoid overloading the available infrastructure. This fuel shortage is an unprecedented crisis that requires careful planning on the part of all motorists ” Except it’s all wrong.
No risk of shortage
” This story of an imminent shortage is totally false. “, explains Geoffrey Caillon, CFDT coordinator at Total Energies. ” Today, we are very calm about the issue of fuel supply in France. Fuel logistics are calibrated and are made up of a system that allows service stations to be supplied continuously. We have experienced shortages, but even those that we have experienced have not had the consequences that are announced in this type of fake news. »
Geoffrey Caillon – “This is false information”
Industry experts we contacted also say there is no risk of shortages expected in the short term. The latest dashboard published by the French Petroleum Institute further indicates that there are no tensions in Europe on the oil market.
Regarding the announced increase, ” 80% of fuel prices “, this is also false information. If the price of a barrel of Brent should increase slightly in the coming weeks, an 80% increase in prices overnight, without tension on the oil market and without a tax increase, is not imaginable in France. ” The price of a litre of fuel is linked to an oil market. It is linked to taxes, particularly in France, where the weight of taxes on the cost of a litre of fuel can represent up to 60% of the final price. Knowing that the State has not announced an increase in fuel taxes, I do not see how we could have such an increase in a few days. “, specifies Geoffrey Caillon.
Geoffrey Caillon – The composition of fuel prices
This fake news, which has been fabricated, aims to wrongly push motorists to fill up their tanks to stock up on fuel. This behaviour could lead to real tension in the event of massive demand.
An ecosystem of accounts at work
Behind this manipulation, we find a whole myriad of TikTok accounts created very recently. To deceive the vigilance of their audience, they pretend to be trusted media. Their name, actu_france24, Info Actu TV7 or Abstract Média, and their logo are deliberately misleading.
Their production is limited to short sensationalist videos that are often fake news. They can be recognized by the systematic use of a voice generated by artificial intelligence. As a sign that their lies are circulating, one of our listeners reported one of these videos to us this week on our WhatsApp group, Les Dessous de l’Infox, which you can join by sending a message to +33 6 08 94 93 05.